ISRAELI PRESS REVIEW
Israeli Press Review of 20.06.2013
- Syrian mortar hits Golan
A mortar shell fired from Syria landed on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights early Thursday morning, the latest cross border incident after several weeks of calm.
There were no reports of injuries or damage from the rocket, which landed just over the border, according to Army radio.
Mortars have struck Israel several times over the past year as fighting in the Syrian civil war has spilled over into Israel, though they largely tailed off during June. The rockets and small arms fire are usually assumed to be errant strikes, but Damascus recently boasted that it had retaliated against Israel for reported air strikes against Damascus weapons sites.
Click here to read the full article in Times of Israel
- Large increase in national service participation by Israeli Arabs
The numbers of Israeli Arabs participating in national service programmes has seen a large increase, with a record-high 3,000 participants from the sector volunteering this year, the Jerusalem Post reports.
This represents an increase of 76 percent over the year.
Ninety percent of those serving volunteer in the Arab sector, in schools, daycare centres and programmes against drugs and violence.
Click here to read the full article in Jerusalem Post
- Eritrean immigrants mark refugee day
Israel’s 200 Eritrean asylum seekers gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night to honour the victims of autocrat Isaias Afewerki, Eritrea’s president since 1993.
Participants hoisted Israeli and Eritrean flags and lit candles in memory of the thousands of casualties in the country’s long feud with Ethiopia.
„Millions have left Eritrea. Over the last years we’ve become a nation of refugees. It’s important to respect the memory of the people who fought so we can return to our homeland,” asylum seeker Davit Damuz, 26, told Ynet.
World Refugee Day falls on Thursday.
