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After the UK government announced its intention to impose widespread sanctions against Israeli settlements — the scope of which is not yet known — critics are pointing to the damage a boycott could do to British citizens if it disrupts access to Israeli products and innovation.

“There could be a dramatic impact on healthcare provision because of the dominance of Israeli drug firms,” according to The Telegraph’s deputy political editor.

A key concern is the fact that Israeli pharmaceutical companies, primarily Teva, supply 1 in 7 drugs provided by the National Health Service, according to the British Embassy. As of 2017, 100 million prescription items for medicines came from Israeli companies.

According to Teva United Kingdom, the company’s generic medicines save the NHS £2.4 billion annually.

Because developing an originator medicine often takes over a decade of research and trials, the manufacturer is given exclusive rights to the medicine it developed for a period, during which prices are much higher in order to recoup upfront costs. After that period, generic manufacturers can develop the same medicine.

“Because the development costs are lower, a manufacturer’s selling price to the NHS is significantly reduced,” according to Medicines UK.

Though Teva is not based in the West Bank, Israel could move to restrict British access to Israeli innovation, or London could implement wide-ranging measures that end up affecting a range of Israeli companies with even tenuous connections to companies in the settlements.

In addition, more than 300 Israeli companies operate in the UK.

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Iran is once again producing ballistic missiles in underground facilities, US and Middle East officials tell The Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, Tehran is using stockpiled parts to assemble both solid- and liquid-fueled missiles.

The production is taking place at a number of underground locations, including the Khojir complex east of Tehran.

The Islamic Republic is working to build new production sites as well, according to the sources.

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Leading rabbis in Israel have issued a strongly worded public letter instructing members of the community not to join any special military programs designed specifically for them.

The letter, signed by members of the of Agudath Israel and dozens of other senior rabbis, warns that such programs — including those allowing participants to serve without military uniforms — are intended to change the character and values of the community.

The rabbis also expressed support for yeshiva students and married scholars facing arrests and sanctions over military enlistment, declaring that Jewish learning has been preserved with self-sacrifice throughout the generations and will continue despite government pressure.

They called on the community to remain firm in its traditional way of life, strengthen religious commitment, and avoid all specialized military frameworks without exception.

The letter was reportedly reviewed and carefully revised by senior rabbis over several weeks before being released.

The next round of US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Rome next week, an Israeli official says.

The talks will extend for two days, but it has not yet been finalized whether they will begin on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a US State Department official says in a statement to querying reporters that Washington is closely monitoring “calls from Southern Lebanon, where people are demanding their government assert sovereignty and stop Hezbollah from firing and storing weapons in their communities.”

“We applaud those communities and support the Government of Lebanon’s receptiveness to their requests,” the official continues.

“We urge the Government of Lebanon to formulate a plan for disarmament in all Lebanese territory, as laid out in the Trilateral Framework,” the US official says.

A major Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon was blown up by the Israeli military moments ago.

A large blast was heard throughout the region as the IDF demolished two tunnel routes under the hill with explosives.

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz say that the underground facility was destroyed following their directive, and the IDF has now “completed the organization of the security zone in southern Lebanon.”

According to the IDF, the tunnel systems under Ali Taher served as the “nerve center” of the terror group’s Badr regional division — a unit tasked with the area of southern Lebanon that is north of the Litani River.

The IDF described the facility as a “strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades,” an activity it said was financed and planned by Iran.

“The terror infrastructure and headquarters under the ridge were intended to serve as a base for the conquest of the Galilee, and surveillance and fire over Metula and Kiryat Shmona,” Netanyahu and Katz say.

Last week, the military said it had completed capturing and clearing out the tunnel system of Hezbollah operatives, killing some of them while others fled.

Netanyahu and Katz say this evening that following the blast, the IDF is “preparing for defense in the area and to prevent the enemy from returning to the territory.”

Iran ostensibly warned the US that it would respond to any Israeli offensive against the Hezbollah facility beneath the hill, according to a report by Reuters last week, although that came after the IDF had already captured and cleared the site.

Standing at the Western Wall complex in Jerusalem’s Old City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Iran is trying to rearm.

“President Trump announced this evening that Iran is attempting to rearm with nuclear weapons,” says Netanyahu in a video released by his office. “This is true.”

“After we destroyed its immediate capability to produce nuclear bombs — in both Operation Rising Lion and Operation Roaring Lion, it is trying again.”

He pledges that Iran will not attain a nuclear weapon as long as he is in office, and promises that further action against Iran and its allies as well.

“We are striking the Iranian axis,” he says, “delivering heavy blows not only in the Gaza Strip but also in Lebanon. We have destroyed the Beaufort Ridge and are now dealing with the Ali Taher Ridge.”

“More to come,” he concludes.

In a speech yesterday, Trump said the United States may hit Iran’s Pickaxe ​Mountain facility, which Western intelligence has flagged as a site likely used to store nuclear material.

“We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard,” said the US president.

Pickaxe Mountain, located near Iran’s heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a fortified site with two deeply buried tunnel complexes.

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said earlier today that the agency has observed construction activity at Pickaxe Mountain.

For the UK Jewish Orthodox Community
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Erev Shabbos

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