JNS news briefs: October 8, 2014

 

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3 Israeli police officers injured in Temple Mount riot
(JNS.org) Three Israeli police officers were injured by stones and fireworks when clashes broke out on the Temple Mount on Wednesday, Israel Hayom reported. They were treated for their injuries by police medics on site.

As soon as the Temple Mount was opened to visitors Wednesday morning, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, several masked youths began attacking police officers near the Mughrabi Gate. Police chased the rioters into the Al-Aqsa mosque, but the youths blocked the final gate into the mosque and spilled flammable liquid around themselves, creating a barrier inside the mosque grounds from where they launched stones and fireworks at the police.

The rioters also sprayed the police officers with an unidentified liquid and threw Molotov cocktails, one of which exploded right near the police but caused no injuries.

The police officers, under the command of Jerusalem District Police Chief Yossi Pariente, worked under the barrage of stones and fireworks to remove the blockade—which was made up of furniture, large pieces of wood, marble, and metal—and succeeded in locking the rioters inside the mosque.

Report: Microsoft to buy Israeli software start-up for $200 million
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to buy the Israeli software start-up Equivio for around $200 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Equivio develops text-analysis software, which organizes groups of related documents and emails based on sets of rules meant to mimic human intuition. The software’s machine-learning algorithm continually adjusts itself to improve its results.

Microsoft and Equivio have yet to release an official statement on the report.
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Israel passes 2015 state budget with $1.6 billion defense increase
(JNS.org) After a marathon meeting late on Tuesday night, cabinet ministers approved the 2015 Israeli national budget early on Wednesday.

The overall budget will stand at $88 billion, with the primary alteration being an additional $1.6 billion for the defense establishment. There is also a one-time addition of $1.2 billion to cover the cost of Operation Protective Edge.

“The security threats surrounding Israel, much like what materialized [on Tuesday with Hezbollah’s blasts on the northern border], obligate us to invest considerable sums in security, and to also invest in communities located near hostile borders,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to Israel Hayom.
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Ralph Goldman, JDC leader and early advisor for Israel, dies at 100

(JNS.org) Ralph I. Goldman—a leader of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and a close confidant of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion—died at the age of 100 in Jerusalem, JDC announced Tuesday.

“The profound sadness and deep sense of loss we feel today is indescribable: Ralph Goldman was a giant among Jewish leaders, dedicating his life and career to strengthening Israel and to ensuring the survival and vibrancy of Jewish people and communities worldwide,” said JDC President Penny Blumenstein and CEO Alan H. Gill in a statement.

“A cornerstone of JDC’s global operations for more than four decades, Ralph was an iconic and transformative figure who embodied the notion that all ‘Jews are responsible for one another’ throughout his long and extraordinary life,” they added.

Born in Ukraine, Goldman immigrated to the U.S. and became involved in Zionist activities, joining the New York City branch of the Haganah, the pre-1948 Israeli military group. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and helped displaced Jews after the Holocaust. Later, Goldman helped recruit know-how and funding for the nascent state of Israel. He served as Ben-Gurion’s representative at the Israeli consulate in New York and was in charge of the prime minister’s first state visit to the U.S.

Goldman, who first became involved with JDC in 1968 and was its honorary executive vice president, is the recipient of the French Legion of Honor and other awards, and established the JDC Entwine Ralph I. Goldman Fellowship for the mentoring of Jewish communal leaders.

“[Goldman’s] passing leaves a tremendous void, but also a priceless legacy that will sustain JDC, Israel, and the Jewish world well into the future,” Blumenstein and Gill said.
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BDS movement fails to sway SWIFT banking network on Israel
(JNS.org) The SWIFT international banking network announced on Monday that it is rejecting calls from pro-Palestinian groups to boycott Israeli banks.

Proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have been trying to convince the Brussels-based banking network—which controls more than 80 percent of global financial transactions and secure electronic money transfers—to exclude Israeli banks in response to Israel’s “occupation” of Judea and Samaria and “war crimes against the Palestinians.”

“SWIFT will not make unilateral decisions to disconnect institutions from its network as a result of political pressure. SWIFT regrets the pressure, as well as the surrounding media speculation, both of which risk undermining the systemic character of the services that SWIFT provides its customers around the world. As a utility with a systemic global character, it has no authority to make sanctions decisions,” SWIFT said in a statement.

In 2012, the banking network decided to disconnect 25 Iranian banks as part of European Union sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

“Any decision to impose sanctions on countries or individual entities rests solely with the competent government bodies and applicable legislators. Being EU-based, SWIFT complies fully with all applicable European law,” the statement said.
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B’Tselem apologizes for staffer’s Holocaust-denying remarks
(JNS.org) The left-wing Israeli NGO B’Tselem has issued an apologyfor filmed remarks of one of its staffers denying the Holocaust.

Last month, Israel’s Channel 2 aired a segment on B’Tselem researcher Atef Abu-Alrub, who was filmed by undercover reporter Tuvia Tenenbom while saying that the Holocaust “is a lie” during a B’Tselem-sponsored visit to a West Bank Bedouin village.

After the report emerged, B’Tselem initially defended Abu-Alrub, saying that the full context of the interview was needed and that he was referring to a question asked off-camera.

But after Channel 2 aired an extended version of the interview, B’Tselem admitted that the researcher did deny the Holocaust and rejected his remarks.

“Several days ago, a longer segment of the footage was made public. … In view of this new information, we would like to amend our response on the matter, which we had made in good faith,” a B’Tselem spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon.

“We wish to state plainly that a B’Tselem employee did in fact make the statements of his own volition, and we wholeheartedly abhor and reject the sentiments he expressed,” said the NGO, which stopped short of saying it would no longer work with Abu-Alrub.

Founded in 1989, B’Tselem’s stated mission is to “document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories.” The group often takes journalists and officials to the West Bank in order to argue its case against Israel’s policies there.
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20 pro-Israel Christian lawmakers to gather in Jerusalem
(JNS.org) A group of 20 lawmakers from Israel allies caucuses from around the world will gather in Jerusalem for a three-day visit as part of a conference organized by the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus.

The lawmakers will attend Israel Allies Foundation’s annual Jerusalem Chairman’s Conference, which is being co-sponsored by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) at the Mamilla Hotel from Oct. 12-14.

At the conference, the lawmakers are expected to urge an investigation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) following the discovery of weaponry in U.N. schools in Gaza during this summer’s war. They are also expected to speak out against the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder will attend the conference, and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will address the lawmakers during their visit to the ICEJ’s Feast of Tabernacles celebration.

The lawmakers hail from 16 countries, including the U.K., Canada, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Greece, Uruguay, Poland, South Africa, Italy, Suriname, Guatemala, Brazil, and Sweden, as well as from the European Parliament.

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