JNS news briefs: October 25, 2013

 

Iran could build nuclear bomb within one month, report says

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) As of today, Iran could produce a sufficient quantity of uranium for a nuclear bomb by using its installed centrifuges and low enriched uranium stockpiles in as little as one month, a report by the U.S. Institute for Science and International Security has found.

Using its existing equipment and uranium stockpiles, Iran could produce “sufficient quantity in as little as approximately 1.0-1.6 months, if it uses all its near 20 percent low enriched hexafluoride stockpile,” according to the report.

The report said that since October 2012, Iran has steadily expanded the number of centrifuges installed at both its Fordow and Natanz gas centrifuge plants. Additionally, Iran has started installing its more advanced centrifuge model, the IR-2m centrifuge, at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant. It is those “substantial changes” that merited the new report on the Iran nuclear program, the authors stated.

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IDF’s Golani Bridge gets first Druze commander

(JNS.org) Col. Rasan Alian was appointed Thursday as the Golani Brigade commander, making Israel Defense Forces history as the first member of the Druze community to fill the role. Alian, 41, is from the northern city of Shfaram and will be the second Druze officer to become an infantry brigade commander—the first was Brig. Gen. (ret.) Imad Fares who was the commander of the Givati Brigade.

Alian rose through the ranks of the highly regarded Golani Brigade, serving in various operational roles as an officer and a combat soldier. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, he served as deputy commander of the brigade, and during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008-9 he served as battalion commander of the brigade’s reconnaissance unit. Following that, Alian served as the commander of the Menashe Brigade, which is responsible for the Jenin area.

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Sheldon Adelson proposes American nuclear launch into Iranian desert

(JNS.org) Casino mogul and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson suggested earlier this week that the American administration detonate a nuclear bomb in Iran as a method of deterrence to convince Tehran to abandon its controversial nuclear program.

Adelson made the remarks during a panel conversation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach at an event titled “Will Jews exist? Iran, Assimilation and the Threat to Israel and Jewish Survival.” The event was held at Yeshiva University in New York.

At the event, Adelson proposed launching an American nuclear device into the Iranian desert, where it “doesn’t hurt a soul.”

“I would say, ‘Listen, you see that desert out there? I want to show you something.’ … You pick up your cellphone and you call somewhere in Nebraska and you say, ‘OK, let it go.’ So there’s an atomic weapon that goes over, ballistic missiles, the middle of the desert, that doesn’t hurt a soul. … Then you say, ‘See! The next one is in the middle of Tehran. So, we mean business,” Adelson said.

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Israel and Nigeria ink new aviation deal

(JNS.org) Israel and Nigeria inked a new bilateral aviation deal that will provide for direct flights between the two countries.

The Bilateral Air Service Agreement enables airlines from both countries to fly directly to each other without stopovers.

Proponents of the deal hope that the agreement will continue the strong growth of Israel-Nigeria ties. Each year tens of thousands of Nigerian Christians make pilgrimages to Israel’s holy sites.

“The agreement will pave way for direct flights into the two countries… Before now, Nigerians travelling to Israel, including Christian Pilgrims have had to endure the long winding stop-overs in neighbouring countries before being airlifted to the Holy Land,” said Nigerian Aviation Minister Princess Stella Oduah, Nigeria’s Daily Times reported.

The agreement comes amid a visit to Israel by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres to discuss further deepening the countries’ bilateral ties.

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School officials called out over anti-Israel materials in Newton, Mass.

(JNS.org) A new advertising campaign in Boston-area newspapers calls out officials in the public school system of Newton, Mass., over the alleged presence of anti-Israel materials in those schools.

The Boston-based nonprofit Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) took out the ads in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald,Newton Tab, Boston Metro, and Jewish Advocate. The ads cover research by concerned parents and students that has revealed the presence of anti-Israel texts in Newton schools including “The Arab World Studies Notebook,” which claims that Israeli soldiers murdered hundreds of Palestinian nurses in Israeli prisons; “A Muslim Primer,” which claims that astronaut Neil Armstrong converted to Islam, but that the anti-Muslim U.S. government warned him “to keep his new religion to himself or he could be fired” from his government job; “Flashpoints: Guide to World History,” which asserts that Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, is the capital of Israel, and that Jerusalem is the capital of “Palestine”; and other materials.

Newton School Superintendent David Fleischman “tried to charge the taxpayers $1,600” for a list of the anti-Israel teaching materials, while Newton School Committee Chair Matt Hills “told staff not to let citizens see the offending materials,” according to the ads. Fleischman and Hills both did not immediately return requests from comment from JNS.org.

Charles Jacobs, the head of APT, told JNS.org that the ads are “getting enthusiastic response” in the form of calls to his organization and letters to Setti Warren, the mayor of Newton. Warren’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. Jacobs added that since the ads’ have circulated, parents have sent APT more materials on texts appearing in Newton schools, and that APT is considering another ad campaign based on those materials.

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