Daily Kickoff
—BUSINESSWEEK: “Why More of Israel’s Iron Dome Will Be Made in the U.S.” by Peter Coy: “Most of the funding for Israel’s highly effective Iron Dome rocket-defense system has come from the U.S. In exchange for more funds, the Pentagon is now requiring Israel to buy more of the parts of the missile-defense system from American contractors, including Raytheon… Israel has expressed concern that sourcing parts in the U.S. could cost more. So there’s a provision allowing production of any part to revert to [Israeli defense contracter] Rafael if its U.S. price exceeds what it would cost to make in Israel by 5 percent or more, according to the documents. Israel gets more military funding from the U.S. than any other nation. It’s also allowed to spend more of it on non-U.S. sources than other recipient nations. A Congressional Research Service report in April said that the U.S. had provided more than $700 million to Israel for Iron Dome. The latest bill would lift that to about $1 billion.” [Businessweek]
BIBI’S FIRST WAR — ISRAEL LAUNCHES GROUND WAR IN GAZA IN 2ND PHASE OF OPERATION PROTECTIVE EDGE
NYTIMES PAGE A1: “Israeli Military Invades Gaza, With Sights Set on Hamas Operations” by Jodi Rudoren and Anne Barnard: “Israeli tanks rolled into the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday night and naval gunboats pounded targets in the south as Israel began a ground invasion after 10 days of aerial bombardment failed to stop Palestinian militants from showering Israeli cities with rockets… Israeli leaders said the incursion was a limited one focused on tunnels into its territory like the one used for a predawn attack Thursday that was thwarted. They said it was not intended to topple Hamas, the militant Islamist movement, from its longtime rule of Gaza.” [NYTimes]
BI-PARTISAN — U.S. Senate Passes Unanimous Resolution In Support of Israel: The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a resolution expressing support for Israel as IDF troops enter Gaza for a limited ground offensive against Hamas and Palestinian militants. The lead sponsors for the resolution (S. Res. 498) were Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). “The United States Senate is in Israel’s camp,” Graham said on the Senate floor Thursday. [The Hill]
Hundreds Attend “Stand Strong with Israel” Rally In DC: The rally in Farragut Square was coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and sponsored by diverse organizations from the local Jewish community. “We want to be able to live in peace,” said Noa Meir, Director of Israel Action Center, “just like we want the Palestinian citizens to be able to live in peace.” [UPI]
SPOTTED AT RALLY: Rep. Trent Franks, Sen. Ted Cruz, Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center; Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Irwin Cotler, MP for Mount Royal and Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Cruz said that when Israelis are attacked, “their fight is our fight,” and “their enemies are our enemies.” [YouTube]
IRAN SANCTIONS – Jewish Lawmakers: Kerry floats new sanctions on Iran: US Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers July 17 that passing new triggered sanctions on Iran might help unlock a nuclear deal, a complete reversal from the policy of the President Barack Obama administration until now, several House Democrats told Al-Monitor. Kerry made the remarks at a State Department meeting with a group of Jewish lawmakers who are regularly briefed on issues pertaining to Israel.”He said it might be useful as a spur,” one lawmaker said. “But he said he hadn’t checked with the White House.” [Al-Monitor] — “State Dept. Backtracks Kerry Suggests New Iran Sanctions Needed” [FreeBeacon]
20 Years Ago Today: Hezbollah and Iran bombed the AMIA Jewish community center in Beunos Aires, Argentina. (H/T Matthew Levitt)
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STARTUP NATION: Israeli startup DAU-UP joins the race to help developers find mobile [VentureBeat]
SPORTS BLINK: Israel falls in world lacrosse quarterfinals: “Israel’s debut in the World Lacrosse Championships ended in the quarterfinals with a 9-8 loss to Australia.” [ToI]
TOP-OPS: Aaron David Miller: “Why Israel Launched a Ground War in Gaza” [Politico] — Charles Krauthammer: “Moral clarity in Gaza” [WashPost] — Dore Gold: “Israel Isn’t Targeting Civilians”[WSJ] — Eliana Rudee: “Our Response To Collective Tragedies – Choose Life” [JewishInsider]
TV REVIEW: ‘The Newburgh Sting’ on HBO: “On one level, “The Newburgh Sting” is a passionate plea from the defense perspective for the four men from Newburgh, N.Y., who were arrested in May 2009 (and later convicted) as terrorists after they planted what they thought were bombs in cars outside two Jewish synagogues in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. On another, the film on HBO functions as propaganda for the view that the bigger danger to the U.S. is not terrorists but our own out-of-control government. Inevitably, if accidentally, it functions as a playbook of dos and don’ts on how to successfully recruit Americans for real acts of terror.” [WSJ]
That’s all folks, have a great Friday!
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