Scarlett Johansson told Vanity Fair magazine that anti-Semitism is behind condemnation of her sponsoring Israeli-made SodaStream products.

In a wide-ranging interview that focused mainly on Hollywoody subjects, gossip and social media, she was asked about her rejecting criticism for signing up as ambassador for SodaStream which runs a factory in the Jewish city of Maaleh Adumim in the Judean desert, where the Palestinian Authority imagines it will rule one day.

“[I'm being called] the new face of apartheid. There’s a lot of anti-Semitism out there,” she commented.

Johansson, who is Jewish, also was ambassador for Oxfam, but when the group demanded she break her ties with SodaStream, she stood up and said that the Israeli-based company does more for peace than anyone else by employing Palestinian Authority Arabs at equal wages with Israel.

BDS has unsuccessfully campaigned for a universal boycott of SodaStream, which gives people the opportunity to make soda in their own homes and add flavors instead of buying bottle carbonated drinks.

Johansson has been a lead punch in the stomach of the Boycott Israel crowd, which is not used to an apolitical figure, especially one from Hollywood, proving to the world that the anti-Zionist case is null and void.

The Sheldon Adelson Family Foundation has contributed $16.4 million to the Israel Lunar Project to build the world smallest spacecraft that SpaceIL hopes to land on the moon.

The donation is nearly half of the project’s budget, estimated at $36 million.

SpaceIL is an Israeli non-profit founded at the end of 2010 by three young engineers with the dream of landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon. They entered the Google Lunar X Prize (GLPX) competition, and SpaceIL now has a full-time staff of 20 people, more than 250 volunteers and a network of hundreds of renowned academics, business leaders, and industry experts.

SpaceIL hopes its technological breakthroughs spur a new wave of commercial space-related industries in Israel.

“Sheldon and I are very excited to be supporting SpaceIL in an effort to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon. As an Israeli-born physician and scientist, I am especially proud of the positive impact the pursuit of this goal will have on the next generation of young Israelis, and frankly all young people, as it serves an important example of the role science and technology continue to play in our everyday lives and across the world,” said Dr. Miriam Adelson.

Yanki Margalit, Chairman of SpaceIL Public Board, remarked that, “We will be able to significantly expand our impact and create the first blue and white moment of the 21st century.”

SpaceIL CEO Eran Privman added, “SpaceIL intends to expand its educational program and invest the needed resources in building the spacecraft. We only get one chance to succeed, so we intend to do all we can to increase our odds.”

Israel successfully  launched its “Ofek 10” satellite Wednesday night from the Palmachim Air Force Base near Tel Aviv.

The satellite has photo capabilities in all weather conditions and at night and is expected to bolster Israel’s intelligence system and security.

Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett announced Wednesday night that he is urging Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in writing to annex large Jewish population centers in Judea and Samaria and take them out of the status of “military rule.”

He explained his timing is directly related to the  Palestinian Authority’s “new record of extortion” throughout nearly nine months of “negotiations” that have been nothing more than drawn out period of demands in return for Israel’s sitting down to hear more demands.

“The Palestinians broke the principles of negotiations and applied for membership” in U.N. agencies, Bennett wrote, adding that the Palestinian Authority continues to incite for the murder of Jews.

“We  have been beating our heads against the wall repeatedly during negotiations – and not surprisingly the wall is not broken,” Bennett continued.

His proposal would place Gush Etzion, which includes Efrat, Neve Daniel, Elazar, Beitar Illit and several kibbutzim under Israeli sovereignty, as Israel did in 1980 when it annexed areas of Jerusalem that were restored to the country in the Six-Day War in 19767. Similar, Israel annexed the Golan Heights.

Almost all foreign media and foreign governments refer to the areas as “occupied.”

The city of Ariel, in central Samaria, Beit El in northern Samaria, and Ma’aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, also would be annexed under Bennett’s plan.

“It is clear that the current process has run its course and we are entering a new era,” Bennett stated.

Momentum for placing the large population enters of Jews under Israeli sovereignty has been building up for at least two years.

Last year, a government-appointed commission of three legal experts, including retired Supreme Court Justice Edmund Levy, concluded that Israel is not an “occupier” and that Jews have the right to live anywhere in Judea and Samaria under international law.

Prime Minister Netanyahu shelved the report, but the recent collapse of the illusion of trust between the  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli government has opened the way for both the Palestinian Authority and Israeli to stake out claims.

Abbas already  has said he will ask for membership in U.N. agencies , with an eye on the International Court, where he wants to file “war crimes” claims against Israel.

Gaza terrorists attacked the Western Negev with a mortar shell that landed smack in the middle of a small community Wednesday night but miraculously exploded in an open area without causing damage or injuries.

The IDF is investigating why the Color Red early warning system did not sound and give residents the usual advance notice of 20 seconds to scurry to bomb shelters.

Earlier in the day, terrorists launched a mortar shell but it landed inside the Gaza area.

The name of the community targeted in the explosion Wednesday night was not reported for reasons of security except that it was in the Sha’ar HaNegev region, less than a mile from northern Gaza and home to several farming moshavim and kibbutzim.

The IDF is certain to retaliate within hours, but as usual, the targets will be a rocket or mortar shell launching site or perhaps a weapons factory and a smuggling tunnel.

The IDF knows the locations of terrorists but responds only in the case of rocket strike or mortar shelling or a “ticking bomb” plot to attack.

A strong counter-terrorist maneuver, such as invading Gaza or bombing Hamas offices would meet with universal condemnation for a “disproportionate” attack.

And Israel does not want to be disproportionate because it might cause the world to be angry with the Jews. It might mean Israel won’t have the backing of the United Nations and the Obama administration, especially  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Oh, did someone say Israel does not have that support anyway? No, it can’t be. Kerry says he is pro-Israel, so it must be.

But what happens when, God forbid, the IDF runs out of miracles, and a mortar shell or “primitive” Kassam rocket hits a kindergarten? That happened a couple of years ago, but another miracle happened – the pre-school facility was closed for the day.

But when someone is killed or seriously wounded, and it will happen, then the IDF can be “proportionate” and go after one or two terrorists.

The principle of “proportionate” only applies to Israel. The day is not near when any other country will count how many citizens are killed or wounded by an enemy missile strike before going to war against the attacker.

But the United States is big on proportionate retaliation. Wasn’t it the United States that dropped a couple of Atomic Bombs on Japan? And wasn’t it the atomic bombs that put an end to the war?

Israel does not need to nuke Gaza,. The time will come when Gaza will meet its Maker,

The best scenario is one whereby Gaza falls apart with a mini-civil war breaking out between terrorists who will kill each other off until the only ones remaining alive are the poor Arabs who enjoyed a much better life when the Jews were employing them as construction workers in Tel Aviv and farm workers in Gush Katif.

One scenario is another major counter terrorist attack, but that won’t happen until the world gives up on Hamas and puts it money behind the cliché that “Israel has a right to defend itself (but it better not).”

That is not going to happen today. Nor tomorrow. And not next month.

The third scenario, more likely, is a mini counter-offensive in Gaza, with aerial bombing of Hamas targets but without, God forbid, injuring any terrorists, usually described to the gullible and foolish media establishment as people who are handicapped, mentally ill or are small children who actually were playing soccer in a no-go zone near the security fence at Gaza.

And there is the other scenario, the one that is now in place.

It’s called Russian Roulette..

So, please, pray tonight for more miracles.

The familiar symbol of the Israeli flag that adorns El Al airplanes will be accompanied the logo of the Vatican when the airline brings Pope Francis back from Israel to the Vatican after his visit in May.

A specially selected crew will man the plane, which will carry the pope, 30 church officials and dozens of journalists, Globes reported.

Incoming El Al CEO David Maimon said, “El Al is proud to have been chosen to provide its services for the pope and his delegation on his historic visit to Israel, and will provide the delegation a special flight at the end of the visit. We will meet all the needs of pilgrims who will accompany the Papal visit to Israel, including special aircrews for the flight.”

The pope will visit Israel at the end of his Middle East tour that will begin in Jordan and continue in Bethlehem and then Jerusalem.

Dozens of police pounced on the home of Boaz Albert in Yitzhar Wednesday afternoon and arrested him for allegedly participating in the rampage Tuesday on an IDF post in the community, according to the Hebrew-language Kol HaYehudi website.

The assault on the military post Tuesday caused widespread damage, as reported here.

Albert was arrested three month after he was released  from jail following his refusal to obey an administrative order to stay away from his home.

Police on Wednesday  also arrested a 25-year-old man at the Gilad Farm community on suspicion of involvement in Tuesday’s rampage.

The farm and Albert both have been become  symbols representing different images to different people – heroes of the settler movement who have not surrendered to violent midnight arrests and demolitions, and villains for anti-nationalists who see them as extremists who place themselves above the law.

Albert was in the headlines earlier this year after refusing to honor a military order that prohibited him from staying at his home but without any specific charges filed against him. Police arrested him several times for violating the order. During one arrest, it took police four hours to take him into custody because he had chained himself to floor.

Albert stayed in jail four months until he was finally freed.

Tuesday’s violence following the demolition of four homes in Yitzhar. The spokeswoman for the Shomron Regional Council called the destruction of the house a “price tag’ operation in revenge for a  Yitzhar youth having punctured the tires of an army vehicle.

Last August, a YouTube video showing the repeated use by police of a Taser gun on Albert shocked nationalist politicians as well as some leftist human rights activists. Police claimed the video was doctored and falsified the number of times Albert was tased.

Albert also is a symbol for many Israelis of a wild-eyed settler who puts God above the law. He has been quoted by Arutz Sheva as saying that during a stay in jail, he refused to be released because “every single second was part of the statement that the divine order is above the (IDF) commander’s order.”

The Gilad farm also has served as a symbol of the determination of Jews to remain in their community deposited dozens of raids  and demolition by police, but for anti-nationalists, it is a symbol of  an “illegal” outpost. The farm’s residents insist their community is on land that was privately owned by Gilda’s father Moshe Zar, who was a member of the Jewish Underground in the early 1980s and was sentenced to three years in jail. The elder Zar was known to have purchased land from Arabs, many of whom claim  that the purchases were phony

The cases of Albert and the Gilad Farm are those in which no one seems to be right and everyone seems to be wrong.

The police have repeatedly crossed all red lines of human rights in pre-dawn demolitions, often expelling young mothers and new-born babies in cold weather and then humiliating them by bulldozing homes and bringing in Arabs to walk away with anything that is usable.

Settlers also have been accused of constant violence against Arabs and police, and dozens of police officers were injured in one melee more than 10 years ago.

Below is video of the arrest of Albert, when police used a Taser gun on him.

Security police arrested a 16-year-old boy in Yitzhar on Wednesday for throwing rocks at police during the morning, one day after 50 young people went on a rampage, clashed with Border Police and ransacked a post manned by Israeli army reservists.

Leaders across the political spectrum have called for a stop to the violence by extreme settlers, and they want prompt and harsh action taken against troublemakers. Knesset Member Elazar Stern, one of six MKS in Tzipi Livni’s HaTnuah party, said that security forces should treat Yitzhar like any other area that hosts terrorists.

Almost of Yitzhar’s 220 families are firmly against the violence and are frustrated that no one has been able to stop the “price tag” vandalism, a spokeswoman for the Shomron Regional Council told The Jewish Press Tuesday.

President Shimon Peres, who is visiting China said in a statement,  “Since the creation of the State of Israel, the IDF has been the most valuable thing to the Israeli people and we must not let a group of punks harm it.

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon told Israel Radio that violence by extremist settlers hurts the movement for a strong Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria.