Gaza terrorists just couldn’t resist launching another round of M302 missiles northward towards Haifa Wednesday afternoon — even if it meant they had to defuse them.

But the effort proved as useless the second time as it did before, with two brand-new Syrian-made 120-kilo missiles barely reaching areas south of Haifa – and that only by emptying the missiles of all of their explosive materials, according to journalist Ehud Ya’ari at Israel’s Channel 2.

Both missiles landed in open areas near Zichron Ya’akov, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Gaza.

One person was lightly injured in the attack, which prompted officials to abruptly terminate a hike by a group of some 800 Israeli scouts in the Ofer Forest, part of the Carmel mountain range around Haifa.

As Operation Protective Edge entered its second full day, Hamas has also launched its propaganda war, with a claim that Israel has attacked the region more than 500 times.

IDF air, navy and intelligence personnel indeed attacked terrorists throughout the region overnight, but carried out “only” 160 strikes on Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Haifa was crowned the ‘smartest’ city in the Middle East by the IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Barcelona. A research team examined 135 cities from 55 countries as part of the IESE Cities in Motion Index (ICIM), an annual survey that ranks the cities based on categories of innovation, sustainability and quality of life. The following ten different dimensions were used to establish the ranking: governance, public management, urban planning, technology, environment, international outreach, social cohesion, mobility and transportation, human capital, and economy. The smartest city in the world for 2014 is Tokyo, which received a perfect score and was described as “impressive in its civic management, technology, economy and its ability to attract talented people from around the world.” London came in second, followed by Zurich and Paris. Of the top 20 cities, 10 are European, six American, three Asian and one is Oceanian.

Haifa is leading in the Middle East, followed by Tel Aviv. Haifa was ranked 24th worldwide.

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav expressed satisfaction by the results, stating: “Haifa has some of the best schools in the state, which have existed for over a century, including the Technion and Haifa University. Haifa is a small city with the largest number of Nobel Prizes in science and the country’s largest high-tech and life science park in Israel. I’m glad we got another seal of approval and we will continue forward with full force.”

Kharkov’s  Jewish Mayor Gennady Kernes is slowly overcoming near-fatal wounds and is on the road to recovery, Chabad-Lubavitch officials confirm.

While jogging in the wee hours of the morning last week, the Ukrainian official was shot by masked gunmen in an assassination attempt that nearly succeeded. His liver and lungs peppered with gunshot wounds, the critically wounded mayor was whisked away by medical airlift to Israel after emergency surgery in Kharkov. Following an initial stay at the private Elisha Hospital in Haifa, he was transferred to Rambam, where he underwent a second operation.

Mayor Kernes has now regained consciousness, and though still in very serious condition, he is recovering, officials said. “He woke up and he is speaking a little,” Chabad-Lubavitch emissary and Kharkov Chief Rabbi Moshe Moskovitz told Chabad.org . “G-d willing, I hope to visit him soon. Things are still delicate, but he’s getting better and we hope he gets out of it.”

He added that a Chabad emissary in Haifa has been a regular visitor at the mayor’s bedside.

The mayor has become a casualty of the violence that is rocking the country since pro-Russian separatists began disturbances weeks ago, with apparent encouragement from the Kremlin.

The city is located within the separatist province of Donetsk, which has declared itself to be an independent nation, the new “Republic of Donetsk.”

The Kremlin recently annexed Crimea, which seceded from eastern Ukraine last month. Russia now appears to have her eyes on Odessa, the third largest city in the country — located in western Ukraine — where dozens of people were killed in violence last week.

Jewish communities in Odessa have already made evacuation plans but have yet to carry them out; Jewish residents there and in Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city, appear to be holding their breath and waiting to see what happens this coming weekend.

The ninth of May marks the victory of the former Soviet Union over the Nazis in World War II. It is a day that is still celebrated in eastern bloc nations and Soviet veterans — and is expected to ignite more violence in Ukraine.

It is also likely to raise anti-Semitic levels to new heights as well.

The Jewish mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city was airlifted to Israel early Tuesday morning for treatment for a gunshot wound shot in a suspected assassination attempt.

Kharkov mayor Gennady Kernes was shot in the neck while on his routine morning jog and initially was reported to be struggling for his life.

Kernes underwent surgery at Haifa’s Elisha Hospital after being flown there, and the hospital said in a statement that the operation was successful and no further surgery will be required.

“Israeli doctors arrived last night, praised our doctors’ work and recommended he be transferred for treatment in Israel. The doctors deemed his condition to be safe for travel and at 3:20 A.M. his plane took off from Kharkov,” city council member Yuri Sidorenko told Interfax Ukraine.

According to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the 2009 election campaign in which Kernes became mayor was mired with anti-Semitic hate speech targeting him and other Jewish candidates.

Ukraine has seen deadly clashes between political opponents since the eruption in November of a revolution that started with protests over then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s perceived pro-Russian policies. Yanukovych was ousted from power in February and replaced with an interim government that has scheduled elections for next month.

Kernes reportedly has played a major role in the confrontations between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces in the city.

He had been a supporter of Yanukovych, and then changed his stance, saying he does not support the pro-Russia insurgents or the annexation of Ukrainian territory.

Several anti-Semitic attacks, including two stabbings and two attempts to torch synagogues, have occurred since November in Ukraine.

Israel medicine has trumped politics again, this time in order to perform a kidney transplant for the desperate Jordanian parents of a seven-year-old boy, making the diplomatic row between Jordan and Israel over the killing of a Jordanian judge just another whiff of Arab hot air.

“Y” received a new life at the hands of Israeli doctors at Rambam Health Care Campus, where doctors only one month ago began performing pediatric kidney transplants. News of availability of this surgery traveled quickly and within a few days Rambam received a request from the Jordanian parents of “Y,” “Please help us by doing a kidney transplantation on our son.” A few days ago it happened.

The little boy, “Y,” suffered from acute kidney failure and needed a new kidney to survive. However, the procedure is not available in Jordan. After checking all possible options, his parents felt that Rambam was the best place to go. They turned to Dalia Bessa, the Israeli Civil Administration Health Services Coordinator, to help bring their son to Rambam.

For Rambam this came as quite a surprise—the procedure had only been available for a few weeks there. Prior to that, Rambam only offered kidney transplants for adults. Once Rambam received approval for performing this surgery in children, the hospital became the second in Israel able to provide this service, and the only one in northern Israel.

Due to the immediate danger to “Y”’s life, approvals were processed quickly. He came to Rambam shortly before surgery to undergo pre-surgical examinations and tests. Since he needed to undergo daily dialysis, and tissue matches had determined that his mother was a suitable donor, he stayed at Rambam. Even though his parents had seven other children, both parents stayed with “Y” to see him through this life-saving surgery.

When the day came, it was literally a day of surgery. First, the little boy’s mother underwent a three-hour procedure performed by a multidisciplinary team to remove one of her kidneys. Then a different multidisciplinary team brought “Y” into a separate surgical suite where the three-hour transplantation was performed.

The surgeries were successful and two days later “Y” and his mother were able to see each other. “Y” is now in a regular pediatric room becoming acclimated to his new life, no longer dependent on machines to stay alive. Soon he and his parents will return to Jordan.
Last year, 600 children and adults from the Palestinian Authority were brought to Rambam for a variety of simple to complex medical problems.

IKEA will open its third store in Israel on March 11, when it opens the doors to its Kiryat Ata branch near Haifa. The company paid $110 million to build the store, which will have 51 showrooms and three houses with designed rooms.

“IKEA’s entry to the north is the implementation of another step in IKEA’s vision,” said IKEA Israel CEO Shuky Koblenz. “During the store’s construction, we saw rapid development in the Ata Junction commercial district, and the store is already a cornerstone for developers and businesspeople in the north.

“As we saw in Netanya and Rishon LeTzion, we believe that the new store will be a center of attraction for residents of the metropolitan area, will create opportunities for commercial and entertainment development, and jobs, and will even improve the quality of commerce in the area.”

The Apostolic Nunciature in Israel announced Monday that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Elias Chacour, Archbishop of the Greek Melkite Archeparchy of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and the Galilee, ICN reported. The Catholic news service added that archbishop, a “native Palestinian, whose family and entire village were evicted when the State of Israel was formed,” was the first Israeli citizen to be appointed a Catholic bishop. In this role, “he has devoted his life to advocating non-violence and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians and has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

But, according to CNS, last October, the well-known archbishop was called in for police questioning for suspected sexual harassment of a woman who works in the community. The allegations concerned an incident that allegedly took place five years ago.

Following several hours of questioning, the archbishop was released on bail under restricting conditions.

The woman’s complaint was filed two years ago, but the investigation needed special permission to proceed because of the archbishop’s high standing (what with the Nobel nominations and whatnot).

Archbishop Chacour was reported to have been cooperative with his interrogators (we almost wrote “inquisitors”) but denied the allegations against him.

A source familiar with the church in Galilee noted that the archbishop tendered his resignation after speaking with church officials, who suggested it would be best if he resigned. Ill health and the sexual harassment charges against him appear to be among the several reasons he resigned, said the source.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation yesterday, CNS reported.

Canon 210 of the Eastern Code of Canon Law allows for resignation for health reasons or at the age of 75. Archbishop Chacour is 74.

Back in June 2004, Maureen Clare Murphy, writing for The Electronic Intifada, described Chacour as a “Prophet in His Own Country,” which also happened to be the title of the film about him she was pushing:

It is Chacour’s goal to heal the souls and regain the dignity of his people. He hopes to convert people “not to Christianity, but to hope.” Chacour is one of those preachers of non-violence that the rest of the world says the Palestinians need to offer before the international community can be bothered to do anything about their plight. And young voices are following in his wake; a young female student of his says that while she feels out of place as an Israeli citizen, and notes the discrimination she faces, she has decided to stay put instead of going to Canada because Israel “would love” to have the Palestinians leave.

Turns out the holy Archbishop could be doing all kinds of touching.