You are here:
Home / Lingerie Events
MOUNT BENTAL, Golan Heights — The Israeli military said Thursday that it had bombed dozens of Iran-linked military facilities in Syria, as tensions between the three countries soared.
The army said in a statement that its fighter jets had targeted Iranian intelligence and logistics sites around Damascus, as well as munition warehouses, observation and military posts — what a top official said were most of their facilities in the country.
The attacks followed a wave of overnight missile strikes directed at Israeli-occupied territory — all of them apparently intercepted — that Israel blamed on Iran.
An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Iran’s Quds Force, a special forces unit affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, marking the first time Iranian forces have ever fired directly on Israeli troops.
From Mount Bental on the Golan Heights, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus pointed out where he said an Iranian rocket salvo had fired toward Israel just after midnight. “We saw it was very clear what the Iranians were doing, attacking Israel from Syrian soil,” he said.
Four of the 20 rockets were on target, he added, but were then intercepted, while the rest fell short. Israel responded by hitting 70 Iran-linked sites in Syria. “This was by far the largest strike we have done, but it was focused on Iranian sites,” he said.
Syrian air defenses were also struck after they fired on Israeli jets, he acknowledged.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said that at least 23 people were killed in the strikes, including five Syrian soldiers and 18 allied militia men, without specifying whether any were Iranian.
The Syrian army, however, said only three died in the strikes and most of the Israeli missiles were intercepted.
Russia, meanwhile, issued its own analysis of the attack, saying it was carried out by 28 Israeli fighter jets firing 60 missiles and another 10 surface-to-surface missiles with Syrian air defenses intercepting half of them.
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course in Syria, as Israel has vowed not to let Iran build a presence and escalated attacks against Iranian targets across the border. Iran had vowed retaliation after seven of its soldiers were killed by an Israeli airstrike in April.
Analysts say President Trump’s scrapping of the Iran deal means it has less to lose by retaliating, and the move has added weight to hard-liners in the Islamic Republic who want to show strength.
There were no immediate statements from Iran after the Israel strikes. On Wednesday, however, Iran’s defense minister, Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami, pledged that Iran would continue to develop its missile capabilities. Hatami, speaking to officials in Tehran, made no direct mention of Israel or other nations, but cited pressures from “enemies of Iran,” according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
Tehran’s strong support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has allowed it to deepen its foothold across Syria, but Iranian media downplayed Tehran’s role in the violence, depicting the clashes instead as between Israel and Syria.
[The shadow war between Israel and Iran takes center stage]
Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said the strikes targeted “almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria.”
The army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Menalis also said that Israel could still do plenty more if it was so inclined.
“What we did tonight is only the tip of the iceberg of the Israeli Army’s capability,” he said Thursday morning on Israel Army Radio.
Among the targets that were hit were Iranian intelligence sites, a logistics headquarters belonging to the Quds Force, military logistics compound in Al-Kiswah, an Iranian military compound in Syria, north of Damascus, munition storage warehouses of the Quds Force at the Damascus International Airport, intelligence systems and posts associated with the Quds Force, observation and military posts and munition in the buffer zone, the Israeli army said.
Speaking at the annual Herzliya Conference on Thursday morning, Liberman said his country’s position was clear, “we will not allow Iran to turn Syria into a front line post against Israel.”
Air raid sirens sounded in the Golan Heights shortly after midnight Thursday. In nearby Tiberias, on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, explosions could be heard above the music of bars entertaining busloads of tourists. The explosions were followed by sporadic fire into the early morning hours.
Israeli residents of the Golan Heights reported a restless night in bomb shelters but that life had returned to normal Thursday morning. Schools were open and farmers continued with work as usual.
Targets belonging to the al-Quds Force and the Revolutionary Guard throughout Syria have taken a significant hit,” said army spokesman Menalis. “In the next few hours they will understand very well how much we have hit them.”
Both Russia and France have called for a de-escalation of the situation.
Eglash reported from Herzliya, Israel and Loveluck from Beirut. Erin Cunningham in Istanbul also contributed to this report.
Read more
Regional tensions soar in Syria as Trump threatens and Iranians die in an attack
Despite blowback over Syrian strike, Israelis say more military action needed
Israel carries out ‘large-scale attack’ in Syria after jet crashes under fire
Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Share and Enjoy
SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church is ending its relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.
The expiration date for the remarkably robust, 105-year alliance is Dec. 31, 2019, according to a joint statement released Tuesday night by BSA and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Read the joint statement from the LDS Church and BSA here.
The decision by LDS leaders is part of a broader restructuring of the church’s programs for all Mormon children ages 8 to 18.
“In this century of shared experience, the church has grown from a U.S.-centered institution to a worldwide organization, with a majority of its membership living outside the United States,” the joint statement said. “That trend is accelerating. The church has increasingly felt the need to create and implement a uniform youth leadership and development program that serves its members globally. In so doing it will be necessary for the church to discontinue its role as a chartered partner with BSA.”
10 questions you might have about the LDS Church’s announcement to replace Scouting in 2020.
A new worldwide initiative for all Mormon boys and girls will debut in January 2020, replacing all existing activity and achievement programs, including the Personal Progress program for Young Women and the Activity Days, Faith in God and Duty to God programs for younger girls and boys, according to an email sent to church members.
The statement called the new program a “new children and youth development initiative” and said more details will be shared in the future on the website childrenandyouth.lds.org.
The moves come during the early months of new church President Russell M. Nelson’s administration, but like the announcement at the faith’s April general conference that a new ministering initiative would replace home teaching and visiting teaching, this decision was years in the making and was made jointly by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Their decision will have a vast impact on all 30,500 congregations around the globe. Millions of young men and women will see changes to both their Sunday meetings and activities they attend one night a week. The church’s Young Men program no longer will focus on supporting boys on a journey to becoming Eagle Scouts. The Young Women program no longer will emphasize personal progress for girls with its eight values — faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, virtue — and earning the Young Womanhood medallion.
Difficult breakup
Though predictable, the breakup of the 105-year partnership between the Mormons and the BSA could be difficult for both organizations.
“It’ll be a blow,” said Mark Griffin, president of the BSA’s Great Salt Lake Council. “We can’t say that it was a total surprise. Maybe the timing is a surprise, but we knew the church was working on a program for a worldwide church but that any changes would be based on the need to do the same program in Paris, France, as they have in Paris, Texas.”
The church and BSA had enjoyed a mutually advantageous affiliation. As part of the faith’s Young Men program, Scouting had provided generations of Mormon boys with leadership skills and self-confidence while reinforcing traditional values central to LDS faith. The relationship also contributed to the mainstreaming of the Mormon image in American society throughout the 20th century.
Meanwhile, Mormon troops were a backbone component for Scouting. A year ago, the church was the BSA’s largest faith-based chartering organization and Mormon boys comprised 1 in 6 American Scouts.
“The Scouting program has benefited hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints boys and young men, and BSA has also been greatly benefited in the process,” the joint statement by the church and BSA said.
But signs of strain began to emerge years ago.
Church leaders wrestled for decades with concerns about inequity within the church caused by Scouting. In 2015, they released a statement that said Scouting didn’t meet the needs of most of the international church’s young men because it wasn’t available where they lived.
And while many LDS boys will continue in Scouting by joining community troops, they will be engaged in an organization that has undergone major changes in the past five years.
Five years ago this month, when BSA voted to admit openly gay Scouts into troops, LDS leaders noted that the church had always admitted gay Scouts and would continue to do so, but three years ago, when BSA voted to allow openly gay Scout leaders, the church publicly said that it was reconsidering the Scouting program.
After a month’s deliberation in 2015, church leaders decided to continue with Scouting for American and Canadian boys and young men after BSA affirmed “the right of all religious chartered organizations to select their Scout leaders in accordance with their religious beliefs.”
Then in May 2017, the church announced that it would drop Scouting from its Young Men’s programs for boys 14 through 17. The First Presidency said then that Scouting’s Varsity and Venturing programs did not well serve LDS young men of those ages and that the change would allow youths and leaders to implement simplified programs that balanced “spiritual, social, physical and intellectual development goals for young men.”
The move slashed the number of Mormon boys in Scouting from about 470,000 to an estimated 280,000 at the start of this year. To dull the impact of such a major loss of revenue, the church agreed to make the same annual lump sum payment to the BSA for the participation of its boys this year that it did in 2017.
Last year’s decision provided a clear signal that more changes were coming.
Tuesday’s announcement came six days after BSA announced it will drop the “boy” from its name for Scout programs for 11- to 17-year-olds. The name will be Scouts BSA in February 2019. The parent organization will still be the Boy Scouts of America, and the Cub Scout program for 7- to 10-year-olds retains its name. About 3,500 girls have joined Cub Scouts so far. Scouts BSA will begin accepting girls in February.
The LDS Church introduced a program for Young Women in 1915, two years after it made Scouting the backbone of its Young Men program. The Personal Progress program was introduced in 1985.
New initiative
Church leaders said in materials released Tuesday night that they had conducted a yearslong, extensive review of the faith’s children and youth development activities and personal development programs.
“As a global church with millions of children and youth, we need to address diverse needs and fortify all children and youth with gospel-centered growth and learning experiences now more than ever,” they said.
The new approach will focus on strengthening faith, the church statements said.
“This approach is intended to help children and youth discover their eternal identity, build character and resilience, develop life skills, participate in outdoor activities and service opportunities and strengthen their ability to fulfill their divine roles as daughters and sons of God.”
The initiative will encourage children and youths to set and achieve goals “to develop spiritually, socially, physically and intellectually as they seek to follow Jesus Christ,” leaders said. “This approach is intended to reduce burdens on families, with greater flexibility to adapt to the needs of individuals and families around the world in many different circumstances.”
“The children and youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide are precious to us,” the leaders added. “They represent our future, and ministering to their needs is a significant focus for the church.”
They also encouraged church members to remain fully engaged in all of the current programs through 2019, including continued financial support of Scouting.
“We honor Scouting organizations for their continued goal to develop character and instill values in youth,” they said. “The lives of hundreds of thousands of young men, along with their families and communities, have been blessed by Scouting organizations worldwide.”
Utah impact
National and local Scout leaders said they will work to smooth the impact of what promises to be a dramatic decline in the number of LDS Scouts after 2020.
Griffin said Scouting has enjoyed a 50 percent market share in the Great Salt Lake Council, meaning that about 50 percent of eligible boys are Scouts in Salt Lake, Tooele, Summit and Davis counties.
“Most councils have 10-to-15 percent market share,” Griffin said. “We expect our membership will drop down to those levels. We’ve been able to rely on the church for 105 years to be that delivery arm. Now we’ll develop other ways like other areas.”
Griffin admitted concern about finances and leadership manpower but said the council is sustainable. The National Council will dedicate resources and support to help transition the 10 percent of BSA councils that will be significantly affected by the LDS decision.
Griffin said church officials have assured him that LDS congregations will continue to support Friends of Scouting, the annual Scout fundraiser, for the rest of 2018 and 2019. This is a major source of funding. In 2016, for example, 56,000 LDS families contributed to the church’s Friends of Scouting drive for the Utah National Parks Council.
88
comments on this story
“We need the support,” Griffin said. “Church leaders have always said they don’t want to hurt us.”
“We are confident that many LDS Scouting families will go on to enjoy Scouting for years to come,” BSA said in a statement, “continuing the legacy of LDS youth who have become Eagle Scouts and community leaders. For LDS families who want to continue the tradition of Scouting beyond 2019, the BSA will ensure a smooth transition to community-sponsored units that will welcome youth previously served by LDS-sponsored units.”
Share and Enjoy
