Yeshiva World News

SECURITY/DEFENSE:
• Border police at Checkpoint 109 arrested two Sharon area residents found to be concealing a Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK-47) in their vehicle. They were turned over to security officials for interrogation.

• Soldiers opened fire after detecting two “images” moving along the Syrian border. A Syrian national was killed and a second man injured. Two residents of the northern community of Majdal Shams were arrested in what appears to have been a drug smuggling operation.

• 7 soldiers serving in an Atlit area base were brought in for questioning. It appears that an Arab family entered a closed military zone to fish and when they refused to comply with instructions to leave the area, a scuffle erupted. The soldiers were questioned regarding the altercation. IDF officials report that the soldiers involved were guarding the base and they are not members of elite naval commando unit stationed there.

POLITICS, DOMESTIC & MORE:
• Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah released a message that he will not compromise on a single prisoner, hinting to increased demands towards Israel’s securing the release of Gilad Shalit.

• IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is leaving for Washington on motzei Shabbos for a one-week working visit. He will hold meetings with the vice president, chief of joint staffs, and other senior officials.

• Iranian official announces that in upcoming talks, his country will not discuss demands to halt halting its nuclear program.

• Samir Kuntar in the coming weeks will travel to Syria to meet Bashar al-Assad, reportedly to thank the Syrian leader for his role in obtaining his release.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

The coffins of Ehud Goldwasser HY”D and Eldad Regev HY”D will be carried today, Thursday, by fellow IDF reservists.

Their fellow reservists have been involved in efforts to obtain their release since they were taken captive two years ago, and today, they will dawn their uniforms and return to reserve duty, to pay their last respects to the two fallen comrades.

“We all prayed. We so badly wanted to see them return home alive,” said Rafi Agronov on Wednesday, a platoon commander in their company.

Some of the reservists will carry the coffins, while others will stand next to the bereaved families, giving them support during this most difficult day.

Ehud will be laid to rest on Thursday morning at 10:00AM in the Nahariya Military Cemetery followed by the funeral of Eldad at 1:00PM, leaving the family home on Yissachar Kaplan Street in Kiryat Motzkin, traveling to the Haifa Military Cemetery for burial, scheduled to take place at 2:00PM.

IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Avichai Ronsky explained the families will sit shiva following the kvura since until yesterday, there were never certain if their sons were dead or alive. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Despite the obvious pain over the realization that Ehud and Eldad are indeed gone forever, Shloime Laniado, a close friend and longtime colleague, who served with the two in the army, told reporters that this moment is a most difficult one. Most of their fellow combatants, who are in the IDF’s Schrage Camp to pay their respects to their former colleagues, are unable to speak to the media.

Shloime however is able to muster the internal fortitude, telling the media “the past two years, the handling of the event, shows us who we are up against, It is a clear message of just who Israel’s enemies are.”

Laniado stated he and his colleagues remain committed to serving in reserve duty, perhaps more so than in the past, and they will continue doing their utmost to protect the nation against the Hizbullahs of the world.

In the meantime, preparations for victory celebrations are taking place in Lebanon, as well as in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where presumably, IDF soldier Gilad Shalit remains captive since June 25, 2006. One can only possibly imagine the pain and concern being experienced by the Shalit family as they witness the return of the coffins of Regev and Goldwasser after two years.

Security preparations have been made for the arrival of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Rosh HaNikra, although his arrival is still in the realm of uncertainty at present. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
 

9:29AM IL: Arab media reports from the Lebanese side of the border report that Hizbullah has turned over two coffins to Red Cross representatives.

While Israel has not received any official notification, it appears both soldiers, IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are indeed dead. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

9:16AM IL: International Red Cross spokesperson Yael Segev Eitan confirmed that IDF reservists Sergeant-Major Ehud Goldwasser and Staff-Sergeant Eldad Regev have been transferred by Hizbullah to Red Cross custody. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

9:06AM IL: Gerhard Konrad, the German mediator who has been involved in negotiating the release of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, moments ago informed Israeli representative Ofer Dekel that in the coming minutes, Israel will learn the fate of the two IDF soldiers whom are presumed dead. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Israel’s Ofer Dekel is waiting at Rosh HaNikra from a signal from German mediator Gerhard Konrad, who played a pivotal role in negotiating the prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah. Konrad is on the Lebanese side of the Rosh HaNikra crossing, presumably with International Red Cross and Hizbullah representatives.

The actual handover of Eldad and Regev is set to take place in 34 minutes, at 9:00AM Israel time. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

11:57AM IL: Ruti Winterstein, a spokeswoman for Quartet Mideast envoy Tony Blair announced a short time ago that Blair will be canceling his planned visit to Hamas-controlled Gaza, which was to have taken place today.

Blair would have become the highest-ranking diplomat to visit Gaza since it came under the current Hamas regime. He announced he was hoping to meet with officials towards advancing a Quartet plan for additional funding of projects in Gaza.

Apparently the cancellation is the result of credible specific threats and not due to general concerns for Blair’s security in Gaza. 

The Quartet is made up of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)