JNS news briefs: August 14, 2014

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White House reportedly halts missile shipment to Israel

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) As further proof of deteriorating relations between Israel and the U.S., the White House has instructed the Pentagon to hold a shipment of Hellfire missiles meant for the Israeli Air Force, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, calling this the “lowest point” in U.S.-Israel relations since U.S. President Barack Obama took office.

Signaling to Israel that U.S. military assistance is now under drastically closer scrutiny than in the past, White House and State Department approval is now required for every request made by Israel, the report said.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the decision was spurred by the recent discovery that the Israel Defense Forces had secured American munitions transfers without the express approval of the White House, by way of military channels.

The report cites a July 20 request for mortar shells and illuminating rounds, stored at a pre-positioned weapons stockpile in Israel. The request was approved by military channels within three days, and according to U.S. officials “no presidential approval or signoff by the secretary of state was required or sought.” The deal was not made public.

The turning point came when on July 30, the U.S. was accused of supplying shells to Israel following the shelling of a U.N. school in Jabaliya. The administration was reportedly taken off guard, placing further strain on an already tense relationship with Israel’s leadership.

“There was no intent to blindside anyone. The process for this transfer was followed precisely along the lines that it should have,” the report quoted an American defense official as saying.

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Israel removes B’Tselem from national service volunteer program

(JNS.org) The left-wing human rights organization B’Tselem will no longer be able to participate in Israel’s national service volunteer program over its refusal to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization and the anti-Israel positions it has expressed during Operation Protective Edge.

National Civilian Service Administration Director Sar-Shalom Jerbi informed B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad of the decision to strip the group of its “operating organization” certification on Wednesday, via a letter.

“After reviewing the matter with several other operating organizations, and given [B’Tselem’s] activities against Israel and IDF troops, I have decided to revoke your participation in the National-Civilian Service Volunteer Program; especially during this period of time, when Israel is engaged in neutralizing the threat of rocket fire looming over millions of its citizens,” wrote Jerbi, according to Israel Hayom.

The letter added, “As you know, Israel is currently dealing with an international delegitimization campaign, which includes gross incitement against the IDF—the most ethical military in the world. Unfortunately, B’Tselem is a party to this smear campaign. The information released by the organization and its expressed positions encourage our enemies worldwide and prompt anti-Semitic expressions against Israel, as well as anti-Semitic attacks on Jews.”

B’Tselem said in a statement Wednesday that it “maintains that protecting human rights is a vital democratic action done in the best interest of Israeli society.”

“Sar-Shalom Jerbi’s decision, which we doubt he has the authority to make, is an abuse of his administrative power for the sake of political gain. It constitutes political and governmental persecution of a human rights group,” said B’Tselem.
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Israeli Air Force pegs Iron Dome’s interception rate at 90%

(JNS.org) The Iron Dome missile defense system had a 90-percent success rate during Operation Protective Edge and was even able to intercept 10 mortar shells, a senior Israeli Air Force officer said Wednesday, Israel Hayom reported.

Iron Dome was designed to detect projectiles fired to distances ranging from 2.5 miles to 43 miles. As mortar shells have a much shorter range and a flatter trajectory, they usually do not register on the system’s radar.

The Iron Dome is also designed to determine whether rockets are headed toward a populated area or an open one. Projectiles recognized as headed toward open spaces, where they can cause no harm, are usually allowed to hit the ground.

The mortars that were intercepted by Iron Dome were “longer-rage mortars,” the officer said, noting they were intercepted largely due to the swift action of the defense system’s operators.

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Hamas rockets return as clock ticks down on Gaza cease-fire

(JNS.org) Rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, just two hours before the expiration of the 72-hour cease-fire between Israel and Hamas at midnight. One rocket fell at an open area and another was intercepted.

According to Israeli officials, the ongoing cease-fire talks in Cairo have hit a stalemate, and Israel’s political echelon is prepared for the possibility that fighting in Gaza will resume.

A cabinet meeting that had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was canceled. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with heads of coalition parties on Tuesday to update them on developments in Cairo, or lack thereof.

Israeli officials said Israel would not make concessions to Hamas in the Cairo talks, but would distinguish between security-related issues and other matters. Israel is apparently not opposed to an Egyptian proposal for Hamas to receive third-party funding to pay salaries to civil servants in Gaza. Israel is also not opposed to allowing commercial goods to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing and increasing aid to the people of Gaza, as long as Israel retains supervision of the crossing.

Israel will not intervene on the issue of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Israeli officials said.

But Israel opposes the establishment of a seaport and an airport in Gaza. It also will not release Palestinian prisoners, except perhaps for several-dozen fighters captured in recent weeks during Operation Protective Edge.

As for the Palestinians’ intentions, there were conflicting reports, perhaps stemming from internal disputes within the Palestinian negotiating delegation in Cairo. While representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza are interested in a long-term cease-fire agreement, and are willing to extend the current 72-hour cease-fire by a day or two to reach such an agreement, representatives of Palestinian groups abroad—particularly from Hamas—are insisting that the current cease-fire not be extended and that rocket fire at Israel be resumed.

According to a report by the Lebanese Al Mayadeen news outlet, a key issue that remains to be solved is Israel’s demand for the remains of soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin to be returned. Hamas official Muhammad Nazal said Hamas would not tie that issue to the cease-fire talks.

“Israel has gotten used to receiving its demands without giving anything in return,” Nazal said. “We won’t agree to discuss the return of bodies in the cease-fire talks. On this issue, there will be separate negotiations.”

Palestinian sources on Tuesday also accused Egypt of thwarting progress in the cease-fire talks, as a way of putting pressure on Hamas to withdraw some of its demands regarding the Rafah crossing.

According to Arab media reports, Israel has agreed to gradually expand the Gaza fishing zone. It will also reportedly allow construction materials into Gaza, under international supervision. Additionally, the number of trucks carrying goods into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing will reportedly be doubled and 5,000 Palestinians per month will be allowed to travel from Gaza to the West Bank, via the Erez crossing.

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Gazans question Hamas’s decisions in conflict with Israel

(JNS.org) As long term cease-fire negotiations continue between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, Egypt, residents of Gaza are beginning to criticize the decisions of Hamas in the conflict.

Hamas has “committed many mistakes,” said Ziad Abu Halool, who works for the Gazan government, reported the Washington Post. “All the Palestinian factions should stop firing rockets. It’s enough. We’ve been suffering.”

“When they fire from here, Israel repays us with an F-16 airstrike,” said Rafaat Shamiya, another resident. “All the people are whispering, ‘Why didn’t Hamas accept the Egyptian initiative in the beginning of the war when the casualties were still low?’ ” added Palestinian journalist and political analyst Hani Habib.

“They just fight Israel, and then they leave everything,” said  Mahmoud, 20, who identified only by his first name. “The people will pay the price.”

Meanwhile, a video journalist for the Associated Press, Simone Camilli, was among 5 people killed Wednesday in Gaza in an accidental explosion of an ordnance left over from the fighting. Camilli, 35, is the first foreign journalist killed in the Gaza conflict, reported Yedioth Ahronoth.

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Belfast plaque marking birth home of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog removed

(JNS.org) A blue plaque marking the birth home of former Israeli president Chaim Herzog in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was removed following a series of anti-Semitic attacks.

Herzog, whose father served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland, was born in Belfast in 1918 and later moved to the Mandate of Palestine in 1935. Herzog went on to have a distinguished military, legal and political career in Israel before serving as president from 1983 to 1993.

According a local government official, the plaque, which was erected in 1998, was removed after a series of anti-Semitic attacks in the area prompted concern for the safety of residents there.

“Attacks have included the scrawling of anti-Israeli graffiti on the building and items being thrown at the plaque and the house,” Brian Kingston, a local government official, told the Belfast Telegraph. “Recently some youths were stopped in the process of trying to remove the plaque with a crowbar.”

Kingston added, “out of concern for staff and for residents living in neighbouring houses, the community group and the Ulster History Circle have decided that it was best to remove the plaque for the foreseeable future, and it was removed at the end of last week.”

Like elsewhere in Europe, anti-Semitism has been on the raise in the U.K. and Ireland. Last month, anti-Semitic graffiti was found on Belfast’s sole remaining synagogue.
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Jewish Hollywood starlet Lauren Bacall dies as 89

(JNS.org) Jewish-American actress Lauren Bacall died Tuesday from a stroke at the age of 89.

Bacall was a successful star with a femme fatale image in 1940s Hollywood. She was married to Hollywood icon Humphrey Bogart, with whom she also acted in many films. Bacall was featured in the American Film Institute (AFI) list of the top 25 actress legends, and was named by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.

Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in New York City in 1924 to Jewish immigrants from Poland and Romania. She was also a cousin of former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres (born Szymon Perski). She left behind three children—Leslie and Stephen, whom she had with Bogart, and Sam, a son from an eight-year marriage to the actor Jason Robards.

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