JNS news briefs: June 20, 2014

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Amid search for missing teens, crackdown on Hamas continues

(JNS.org) The Israeli Defense Forces arrested another 25 Palestinian terrorists overnight on Thursday as part of their widespread campaign against Hamas, the Palestinian terror group believed to be behind the abduction of the three Israeli teens last week.

Overall, 320 Palestinians have been arrested by Israel over the past week, with nearly 240 of which are members of Hamas, the IDF said, the Jerusalem Post reported.

An Israeli military official also said that Israel will likely issue fewer permits to Palestinians from Hebron, near where the missing teens were kidnapped, during the upcoming Ramadan holiday, which begins June 28th.

“Ramadan 2014 will not be like Ramadans in previous years,” said Major General Yoav Mordechai said, the Times of Israel reported. “The widespread festivities which took place [previously] will not happen.”

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Report: Tunisian jihadist group may target Jewish tourists over Ramadan

(JNS.org) A report by a Tunisian counterterrorism expert claims that the North African jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia may be planning attacks against Jewish tourists as well as other Western targets in North Africa.

According to the report published by the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Ali Zawi, a Tunisian counterterrorism expert, told the London-based Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi that he believes Jewish tourists visiting the Tunisian island of Djerba, home to one of the oldest synagogues in the world and a small Jewish community, may be targeted.

Additionally, the expert said that well-known Ansar al-Sharia operative Khaled al-Shaeb may be connected to planning these attacks.

Tunisia, which is attempting to restore its government and economy following Arab Spring protests in 2010, has made headlines over recent visits by Jewish tourists to the country. Tourism Minister Amel Karboul and Deputy Interior Minister for Security Ridha Sfar were censured in April by Islamists and others in the Tunisian parliament for allowing Jewish tourists in with Israeli passports.
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Amid kidnapping of Israeli teens, new emergency alert app released

(JNS.org) In the wake of the kidnapping of three Jewish teens near Hebron, the Israeli volunteer emergency service United Hatzalah has released a new emergency alert app.

“Our main mission at United Hatzalah is to get to medical emergencies within two minutes all over the country,” said Eli Beer, president and founder of United Hatzalah. “With the recent kidnappings, we feel obliged to share our knowledge and technology to provide that extra layer of protection for the people of Israel.”

Dubbed “SOS,” the app utilizes existing GPS-oriented emergency technology called LifeCompass used by United Hatzalah for medical emergencies.

According to United Hatzalah, when a person uses the app, a call simultaneously goes out to the police and a United Hatzalah dispatch center with the person’s GPS coordinates. The system will also contact any family members or friends.

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Iranian leaders blame ISIS jihadist attacks on Israel and U.S.

(JNS.org) Iranian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi on Wednesday blamed Israel for creating and supporting the jihadist terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“ISIS is Israel’s cover up for distancing the revolutionary forces from Israeli borders and creating a margin of security for the Zionists, and the Zionist media have also admitted this fact,” he said, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

ISIS recently took control of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, seizing the city’s central bank and $425 million worth of cash, while also taking control of U.S.-supplied military hardware given to the Iraqi military, which fled ahead of the jihadist invasion. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that the U.S. will share limited information with Iran about the crisis in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the commander of Iran’s Basij force, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Reza Naqdi, blamed the recent ISIS surge on a U.S. plot.

“The scene they have created in Iraq is the result of the United States’ behind-the-scene attempts to sow discord and they are certainly the main mastermind of these events,” said Naqdi, Fars reported.

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Israeli pilot killed in light plane crash in New York

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli businessman and recreational pilot Hanan Shoshany was killed in a plane crash in Long Island, NY, on Tuesday.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation by New York aviation and safety authorities. Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it was in contact with Shoshany’s family and was arranging the transfer of his body to Israel.

Shoshany, 53, lived in New York. For reasons still unknown, Shoshany’s light aircraft crashed in the backyard of a Long Island home Tuesday morning, yards from a house with a mother and baby inside. The impact from the crash shattered one of the house’s windows, and fragments landed near the sleeping infant’s crib. The child was not harmed.

“It’s a miracle that no one in the house or neighbors were hurt,” a neighbor told local media outlets. Witnesses said it appeared Shoshany was trying to land in the backyard so as to not crash into nearby houses.

Efforts are being made to transfer Shoshany’s body for burial in Israel. Shoshany, who owned a clothing store in Queens, was a father of five and grandfather of two.

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Kerry says U.S. will share information with Iran on Iraq crisis

(JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the U.S. will share limited information with Iraq over the crisis in Iraq, but the two foes will not work closely together.

“We are interested in communicating with Iran. That the Iranians know what we’re thinking, that we know what they’re thinking and there is a sharing of information so people aren’t making mistakes,” Kerry said in an interview with NBC’s “The Today Show” on Thursday morning.

But when asked about stronger cooperation with Iran, who has deep ties with Iraq’s Shi’a population, Kerry said, “No. We’re not sitting around contemplating how we’re going to do that or if we’re going to do that. That’s not on the table.”

Israeli officials, along with numerous American leaders, have expressed caution over cooperating with Iran over Iraq, fearing that Iran could use it as leverage in nuclear talks.

“Any discussion about Iraq with Iran will be entirely separate [from negotiations],” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a press statement on Wednesday. “And any effort to link the two—or any other regional issue—is a nonstarter.”

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Preceding provided by JNS.org, which is sponsored on the pages of San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.

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