Ban pelted with rocks during Gaza visit

UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Thursday where he was greeted as he passed through the Erez crossing by an angry mob which pelted his motorcade with shoes, sticks and rocks. The mob was composed mostly of Palestinians who have relatives in Israeli prisons, and some carried signs accusing Ban of double standards. No one was injured in the incident, and Ban proceeded with his schedule, which included a press conference in Khan Younis and a visit to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters. He is not scheduled to meet with any Hamas representatives during his visit to the Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the PA to continue talks with Israel during his joint press conference with Ban on Wednesday. Ban responded by thanking Netanyahu for his words but urging him to halt construction in West Bank settlements.

PA arrests journalist for Facebook criticism
In what many Western observers described as a “disappointing” sign that the Palestinian Authority retains the authoritarian tendencies it insists it has outgrown, US trained and financed PA police on Tuesday arrested a Palestinian journalist in Ramallah posting a remark on his Facebook page that was critical of the PA leadership. The journalist, Rami Samara, works for the PA’s official news agency Wafa, and the privately owned Ajyal radio station. A colleage, Yousef Shayeb, protested against the arrest and was promptly arrested himself. Both men were released a few hours later following withering criticism from human rights organizations.

8 rockets from Gaza land in Israel
Terrorists based in the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip launched a salvo of 8 rockets into southern Israel on Wednesday, the first day of relative visibility after several days of cloudy weather and rain. There were no injuries or damages reported, but the attacks prompted authorities to remind residents that the Iron Dome system was unable to protect the area situated between 4.5 kilometers and 7 km. from the Gaza border and to reiterate requests for the government to provide funds for bomb shelters.

For the latest intelligence report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, click HERE (PDF)

Israel ranks high in education
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published its 2011 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators," which gave Israel high marks for the levels of education among its citizenry. According to the report, 45% of Israelis have completed a university degree, outranking Japan (44%), the US (41%) and the UK (37%), but trailing Canada (50%). The report also showed Israel as having one of the fastest rates of population growth in the industrialized world and many other indications of positive change in the Jewish State.

Heavy precipitation helps, but winter almost over
Israel’s Water Authority confirmed on Thursday that January was one of the wettest months in decades for Northern Israel, but cautioned that it barely makes up for years of drought, adding that the rainy season is more than two thirds over and the Sea of Galilee is still 11 centimeters below the bottom red line at 213.105 meters below sea level. “It was quite a rainy January, especially in the North – we got more rain in the North than in the average year,” said Water Authority spokesman Uri Schor. “After the seven drought years we’ve had, the lack of water is so huge that we need much, much, much more to cover even part of that. We are happy with January, but we can’t be satisfied from it. It’s not a good situation.” With 4.31 meters is still missing from the Kinneret’s basin, the Authority offered some hope that the heavier than average snowfall in the country’s mountainous regions would, when they thaw in a few months, also make a healthy contribution to the water supply.