JNS news briefs: April 13, 2014

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Immigration to Israel jumps 14% in first three months of 2014

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The first three months of 2014 saw a 14-percent increase in the number of new immigrants to Israel compared to the same period of 2013, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported.

According to CBS data, 3,623 new immigrants arrived in Israel from January to March 2014, compared to 3,177 in the same period the previous year. January 2014 alone saw 1,220 new immigrants land in Israel, while 1,340 arrived in February.

The CBS figures showed that approximately one-third of the newcomers entered Israel on tourist visas, and after staying a few weeks or months, changed their status to that of a new immigrant.

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Israeli government to allot $289 million to aid Holocaust survivors

(JNS.org) The Israeli government is expected to approve an additional annual budget of $289 million in aid for the 200,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel. The finance and social services ministries are expected to present within a month the alterations to the law needed to increase the budget so that the National Plan for Aid to Holocaust Survivors can be implemented as soon as possible, Israel Hayom reported.

The plan will make the aid available to concentration camp and ghetto survivors who immigrated to Israel after October 1953 equal to that allocated to survivors who arrived in Israel before that date, who receive their rights under the Disabled Victims of Nazi Persecution Law.

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American-Jewish prisoner Alan Gross ends hunger strike in Cuba

(JNS.org) American-Jewish prisoner Alan Gross, who has been held in Cuba since late 2009, announced the end of a hunger strike that he started on April 3.

According to a statement released Friday, Gross told his attorney, Scott Gilbert, that he was ending the strike due to requests by family members and friends concerned about his deteriorating health. But Gross said there would be “further protests to come.”

In an initial statement on the hunger strike, Gross had said, “I am fasting to object to mistruths, deceptions, and inaction by both [the Cuban and American] governments, not only regarding their shared responsibility for my arbitrary detention, but also because of the lack of any reasonable or valid effort to resolve this shameful ordeal.”

Gross, whose work as a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development entailed helping the Cuban Jewish community access the Internet, is serving a 15-year prison term for what Cuba called “crimes against the state.”

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Switzerland approves Palestinian move to join Geneva Conventions

(JNS.org) The Swiss government on Friday approved the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) bid for accession to the Geneva Conventions, Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Pierre-Alain Elschinger told Agence France-Presse.

First established in the 19th century, the Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish the rules of warfare and humanitarian operations in conflict zones. The Swiss government acts as a guardian of the treaties.

The Geneva Convention move is part of the larger PA effort to join 15 international conventions in retaliation for Israel’s refusal to release the fourth round of 26 Palestinian terrorist prisoners. By seeking to unilaterally join international bodies, the PA has violated the parameters set last summer for its current peace talks with Israel.

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Lockheed Martin officially opens Israel office

(JNS.org) American defense, aerospace, and technology company Lockheed Martin has officially opened its first office in Israel.

The office, located in Be’er Sheva, is part of Israel’s plan to transform the Negev Desert region into a hub of the defense and high-tech industries.

“In the United States, Silicon Valley stands as our country’s center for information technology innovation,” Lockheed Martin President and CEO Marilyn Hewson stated. “With the opening of this office and the strategic investments being made by the IDF it is clear that Be’er Sheva is on its way to becoming the Silicon Valley of Israel.”

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Sheldon Adelson donates $16.4 million to Israeli lunar mission

(JNS.org) Jewish philanthropist Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam have donated $16.4 million to SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit seeking to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon.

SpaceIL is the only Israeli team currently competing in the Google Lunar X Prize competition to become the first team to successfully land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon and send pictures back to Earth.

“We are proud to support Israel and SpaceIL [as they] prove that dreams do come true and that hard work, vision, and dedication are rewarded. We stand proudly with SpaceIL in this extraordinary endeavor,” Sheldon Adelson said.

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