The ‘breathing closure’ of East Jerusalem hasn’t stopped the attackers, and IDF reinforcements are negligible, but for panic-stricken Israelis, every little bit helps.

The IDF will provide an additional 300 soldiers to assist police in Jerusalem next week, the Army said on Thursday. Six companies of cadets amounting to several hundred soldiers in officer training have already been sent to reinforce police in cities around the country.

Some of the soldiers already in place, and additional forces joining them next week, come from non-infantry units, predominantly the Military Police and the Homefront Command, an outfit which provides search-and-rescue and emergency response services in war-time, the police and IDF said.

It is the latest in a number of measures paraded by the security cabinet in response to the stabbing attacks which have rocked Israel in recent weeks and sent the population into a panic. Another notable and even more dramatic move by the cabinet earlier this week was to put in place a so-called breathing closure around East Jerusalem neighborhoods, setting up checkpoints at entrances and exits but leaving to the resident population a level of mobility.

Vilnius, October 15, BNS–Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė says Lithuania and Israel are enjoying their best relations ever as she prepares for her upcoming trip to Israel.

“I think we are able to say we are enjoying the best relations with Israel now compared to the entire post-war history,” Grybauskaitė said in an interview on Lithuanian National Radio Thursday.

The Lithuanian president leaves for Israel Sunday and plans to stay there until Thursday, October 22. Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius, economics minister Evaldas Gustas and energy minister Rokas Masiulis will accompany her.

Dalia Grybauskaitė said Lithuania and Israel share concerns and interests in the fields of defense, internet security and trade, and added her visit to Israel could cause controversy “because of the great tension and conflict we see in the region at the current time.”

The head of Lithuanian state plans to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during her trip.

“The region is now a major hot-spot globally, and both sides should seek a peaceful resolution. We are here during this tense and difficult time to make a contribution and show our concern, and to show that even Lithuania, tiny Lithuania, can contribute to peace,” Grybauskaitė said.

A new wave of violence has broken out over the last few weeks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, raising fears of a third Palestinian intifada.

Lithuania has supported Israel in the EU and the UN. In 2011 Lithuania was one of fourteen countries to vote against Palestinian membership in UNESCO, the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In September of 2015 Lithuania voted against a resolution to allow the Palestinian flag to be flown at the organization’s headquarters, although the measure was adopted with 119 votes in favor, eight against and forty-five abstentions.

BNS

Netanyahu stresses that in the battle against the threats from Iran and Islamic extremists, Israel is on the “front with Egypt and Jordan, and with many other Arab nations in the region.”

It was obvious from the start that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the opening of the winter Knesset session would focus on the terrorism raging on the streets.

Netanyahu spoke of the 16 border police units which have been mobilized to deal with the violence and the stiffer penalties his government approved for those arrested throwing rocks, firebombs and firecrackers.
He stressed once again that Israel had no intention of altering the status quo on the Temple Mount.

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Members of the Kaunas Jewish Community met October 11, 2015 to hear an accounting of the community’s activities and hold elections. At the start of the meeting chairman Gercas Žakas called for a minute of silence to remember community members lost over the last four years since the last general election meeting, most of them active members of the community. He then turned the floor over to Michailas Duškesas, who moderated the rest of the meeting. Žakas provided an overview of his activities and those of the board of the community over the last four years, achievements as well as failings, problems which arose and solutions arrived at, and discussed future plans. After statements and discussion voting on the post of chairman and members of the executive board began. In total 176 ballots were cast. Gercas Žakas received a total of 98% of votes cast for the next chairman over the coming four years. Thirteen people were elected to the executive board as well.

BNS, Vilnius, October 10–The Lithuanian Ministry of Culture has awarded the composer Anatolijus Šenderovas the medal “Carry Your Light and Believe.” Lithuanian cultural minister Šarūnas Birutis awarded the composer celebrating his 70th birthday this year the award “for significant contribution and extraordinary merit to Lithuanian culture and art, for initiatives inspiring the community to positive activities and for personal responsibility in creating the cultural and spiritual environment,” according to the ministry. The award was presented Saturday during Šenderovas’s birthday concert at the National Philharmonic in Vilnius.

Anatolijus Šenderovas is one of the best known modern Lithuanian composers. He’s participated at more than thirty international music festivals, staged the ballets “Mergaitė ir Mirtis,“ “Marija Stuart“ and “Dezdemona,” wrote music for three symphonies, two concerts for bass, a concert for guitar and chamber orchestra, and other works. In 1996 the composer received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas and in 2006 the award the Officer’s Cross of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas “For Merit to Lithuania.” He won the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art in 1997.

BNS

Hamas’s chief in Gaza on Friday called violence that has hit Israel and the West Bank in recent days an “intifada” and urged further unrest.

“We are calling for the strengthening and increasing of the intifada… It is the only path that will lead to liberation,” Ismail Haniyeh said during a sermon at a mosque in Gaza City.

“Gaza will fulfill its role in the Jerusalem intifada and it is more than ready for confrontation,” he added.

The Islamic terror movement Hamas rules Gaza, the Palestinian enclave squeezed between Egypt and Israel and separated from the West Bank.

Gaza has been the site of three wars with Israel since 2008, but it has remained mostly calm amid recent unrest in Israel and the West Bank.

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3 policemen injured in second terror attack in Jerusalem

Oct 09, BNS – A monument to the Jews who formerly lived in Šeduva, Lithuania, was unveiled in the town on October 9, 2015. “Šeduva can take pride in the extremely long history of the Jewish nation, which started back in 1400s. Jews lived here, worked here and engaged in commerce. The Jewish community in Šeduva has always paid a lot of attention to culture and active community life,” prime minister Algirdas Butkevicius said at the ceremony. He said the monument will not only help remember the Jews of Šeduva but will also give impetus to other cities and towns to keep up and commemorate historic sites, paying tribute to the ethnic minorities who have lived in Lithuania and benefited the country. According to a government press release, the prime minister also visited the renovated Jewish cemetery in Šeduva and monuments in a local forest to victims of mass murder.