Following the firing of a rocket by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization late Monday night, Israel has temporarily scaled back the authorized Gaza fishing zone from 15 nautical miles to six.
The Israel Defense Forces reported that the rocket, launched from the al-Attra neighborhood of Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip, landed in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, and accused Palestinian Islamic Jihad of firing it with the aim of derailing ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas.
The IDF noted the attack took place just before the period that includes Israel’s Memorial Day and Independence Day, and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

On Easter Sunday 1475, the body of a 2-year-old Christian boy named Simon Unferdorben was discovered near a Jewish home in the northern Italian city of Trent, then a province of the Holy Roman Empire. Immediately, authorities arrested every Jew living in the city. Even as they awaited sentencing, a mythic narrative sprang up around the dead toddler: that he was a saintly martyr, a victim of ritual murder by the Jews, who had killed him to use his blood in the baking of their Passover matzohs.

A beluga whale found off Norway’s coast wearing a special Russian harness was probably trained by the Russian navy, a Norwegian expert says.
Marine biologist Prof Audun Rikardsen said the harness had a GoPro camera holder and a label sourcing it to St Petersburg. A Norwegian fisherman managed to remove it from the whale.
Interviewed by Russian broadcaster Govorit Moskva, Col Viktor Baranets said “if we were using this animal for spying do you really think we’d attach a mobile phone number with the message ‘please call this number’?”
The colonel did admit the Russian military used aquatic creatures for military roles.

Former Yerushalayim mayor and Likud MK Nir Barkat sent a letter to Knesset Comptroller Haim Avidor on Tuesday demanding that the Knesset computer allow him to earn only one shekel a year.
Barkat, who was sworn in as an MK for the first time on Tuesday is seeking to maintain the same symbolic salary he received as mayor over the last decade.
“For me it is a great privilege to serve the public without receiving any compensation,” wrote Barkat.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

The original exhibition copy of the United States’ recognition of Israel in 1948, signed by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, is up for sale for the first time.
The document, valued at $300,000, is the only known signed copy of the final recognition of the Jewish state to exist.
The Raab Collection, the nation’s leading dealer in important historical documents, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired the historical artifact ahead of Israel’s Independence Day in May.
Previously, the document was exhibited by the American and Israeli governments.

Hordes of large black beetles have invaded Israel, descending upon homes and leaving a foul stench in their wake.
The Environmental Protection Ministry confirmed Monday that the bugs are being found in large quantities in many communities around the country. The beetles are not harmful, don’t transmit diseases and are actually beneficial to agriculture because of their appetite for smaller bugs, so pesticides should not be used against them.
The pestilence, which comes on the heels of a much less icky butterfly migration, is expected to end soon as the weather turns hotter after a particularly rainy winter.
Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com}
 

Amazon contacted Israeli suppliers on its platform to offer them to be among the first to sell locally to customers through its Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) sales method.
“Dear friend, We are pleased to invite you to be part of a group of selected sellers and to participate in the Local Delivery program in Israel,” wrote Amazon co-founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in the Hebrew-language invitation, according to Israeli news outlet Jerusalem Post.
The move to begin local operations comes after Amazon briefly provided free shipping for goods exceeding $75 to Israel at the end of last summer.
Read more at i24NEWS.
{Matzav.com}

Kachol Lavan MK Miki Haimovich asked for her seat in the Knesset’s plenum to be replaced with one not upholstered with leather.
“Most leather in the leather products industry is made by animals who were taken advantage of in other industries, mainly the meat industry,” Haimovich wrote in a letter to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. “Those animals undergo great suffering and, for most of their lives, are victims of violence and neglect.
“I am a vegan for six years and a vegetarian for 28 years, and for reasons of morality and conscience I do not use leather at all,” she explained.
Haimovich offered to pay for the expense of switching the chair and expressed her hope that all the Knesset chairs get changed to non leather.

A top Israeli official says that the country will officially name a train station in Yerushalayim after President Trump next week during the country’s annual Independence Day celebrations.
Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz, who also serves as transportation minister, tweeted Tuesday that the station located near the Kosel and Har Habayis would be “named after @realDonaldTrump.”
“Here, in the Old City of Jerusalem, we will build the Western Wall & Temple Mount train station,” Katz wrote. “It will be named after @realDonaldTrump, who made history and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The official announcement will take place on Israel’s Independence Day.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has offered Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas $10 billion to accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming Mideast peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians, reported the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar on Tuesday.
“According to information obtained by Al-Akhbar, Salman briefed Abbas about the details of the deal of the century and asked him to accept it. According to the information, Salman asked Abbas: What is the annual budget of your entourage? Abbas replied: I’m not a prince to have my own entourage.”
Salman then asked Abbas: “How much money does the Palestinian Authority and its ministers and employees need?”