Report: Obama sent letter on Islamic State to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
(JNS.org) U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in mid-October expressing their shared interest in the fight against Islamic State jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the letter—which left Israel and America’s Arab allies out of the loop—was aimed at strengthening the campaign against Islamic State and urging Iran to sign a nuclear deal.
In the letter, Obama stressed to Khamenei that any cooperation on combating Islamic State terror would be contingent on Iran reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal with the P5+1 powers (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany) by the Nov. 24 deadline for an agreement.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House did not tell Israel or Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—the latter two of whom joined the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State—about the letter. All three countries have expressed deep concern over recent reports that the U.S. may be softening its deal with Iran to allow it to retain some portions of its nuclear program such as uranium enrichment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that any deal with Iran must include a complete dismantling of its nuclear program.
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) expressed concern over Obama’s letter to Khamenei.
“I don’t trust the Iranians, I don’t think we need to bring them into this,” he said.
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ADL names White House aide Jonathan Greenblatt as Foxman’s successor
(JNS.org) The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced on Thursday at its annual meeting in Los Angeles that White House aide and social entrepreneur Jonathan Greenblatt will succeed Abraham Foxman as its national director next summer.
The announcement marks the culmination of a search that began last February, when Foxman said he would step down in July 2015. Foxman, 74, has worked for ADL since 1965 and in 1987 was named national director, a role in which he has become one of the highest-profile American Jewish organizational leaders.
Greenblatt, a 43-year-old grandson of a Holocaust survivor, currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Domestic Policy Council for the Obama administration. He was previously a social entrepreneur who co-founded Ethnos Brands, which produced Ethos Water, a premium bottled water that donated a portion of its profits to global clean water programs. Greenblatt also interned for ADL’s New England Regional Office while as an undergraduate student at Tufts University, and his wife worked for ADL’s Los Angeles office.
“I welcome the successful completion of the search process and the committee’s choice of my successor, Jonathan Greenblatt,” Foxman said. “I’m confident that ADL will continue to thrive and grow under Jonathan’s leadership and I look forward to working with him to ensure a successful and smooth transition.”
Greenblatt said, “Since its inception, ADL has had a tremendous impact on making America a more inclusive society for all people while defending the rights of Jews to freely practice their faith and be full participants in society. I am incredibly excited by the opportunity of building on those great successes.”
ADL, which celebrated its centennial last year, states that it “fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals, and protects civil rights for all.”
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Anti-Semitic incidents take place in Europe, South America
(JNS.org) Several attacks against Jews and Jewish sites have been reported in South America and Europe this week.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, vandals desecrated a monument in a Jewish area with graffiti. The writing called to “kill Jews.” In Cordova, Argentina, a swastika was drawn on the wall of a rabbi’s home. Local officials said the vandalism was part of a larger pattern of similar anti-Semitic incidents taking place in the city on a weekly basis.
In Berlin, Germany, five youths attacked an Israeli woman who was heard speaking Hebrew on the phone. The group grabbed her phone and stole it after calling her an “Israeli.” In Lisbon, Portugal, vandals drew the word “Ebola” on a memorial for a massacre that took place in 1506, Israel National News reported. The memorial is considered one of the most significant Jewish landmarks in the country.
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Israeli FM Lieberman affirms right of Cyprus to explore for oil and gas
(JNS.org) Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman affirmed the right of Cyprus to explore for oil and gas around its shores after meeting with the Cypriot Foreign Minister Loannis Kasoulides.
“We think it’s crucial to respect all international norms and obligations and to act according to acceptable rules in the international community,” Lieberman said.
It is “extremely unnecessary” to create more tension in the Middle East, he added in reference to Turkey’s refusal to recognize the divided Cyprus as sovereign and its opposition to Cypriot gas searching.
Cyprus has been split into Greek and Turkish sides since 1974. Turkey recognizes only Cyprus’s Turkish declaration of independence, and the country still maintains troops on the Island’s north side. The United Nations is facilitating reunification talks between the island’s two sides, but these talks were suspended last month by Cyprus’s Greek president, Nicos Anastasiades, when Turkey carried out a mineral search in Cypriot waters.
Israel also has strained relations with Turkey, and the Jewish state is looking to achieve “tangible results next year” regarding cooperation on gas exploration with Cyprus, Lieberman said, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
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Israeli leaders say Jerusalem terror attack a result of Abbas’s incitement
(JNS.org) Following Wednesday’s terrorist attack near Jerusalem’s Shimon Hatzadik light rail station, in which a Border Police superintendent was killed and 13 people were injured, Israeli politicians denounced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his incitement against Israel.
“This attack was the direct result of the incitement of Abbas and his Hamas partners,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “This front of hate wants to run over all of us. Peace will come when Abbas stops calling Jews ‘defilers’ and he stops embracing murderers.”
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said, “The rhetoric of incitement of Abbas—who, with one hand, spreads hatred and lies against the State of Israel and, with the other, glorifies and exalts Palestinian terrorists who attack Jews—is responsible for the bloodshed in Jerusalem.”
In a letter to foreign ministers around the world, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also slammed Abbas’s incitement.
“The Palestinian leadership needs to be held accountable for glorifying terrorists and murderers to ensure that its conduct is in accordance with accepted international norms,” Lieberman wrote, according to Israel Hayom. “A society in which cold-blooded murder is revered by the head of state is not one that can be expected to pursue peaceful coexistence. Such a ‘terrorocracy’ can lead only to increased conflict and bloodshed.”
Last week, Abbas’s Fatah movement declared Oct. 31 to be a “day of rage” in Jerusalem, calling on Palestinian “fighters” to defend the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Druze village mourns the loss of Jerusalem terror attack victim
(JNS.org) Thousands of mourners surrounded the home of Israeli Border Police Superintendent Jadan Assad on Wednesday after a Palestinian terrorist rammed a car into a group of pedestrians at a light rail station in Jerusalem, killing him and wounding 13 others.
Assad, 38, was from the Druze village of Beit Jann. He is survived by his pregnant wife and their 3-year-old son.“He was so close with his son and was eagerly awaiting the birth of his next son,” his brother Yahi said, Israel Hayom reported. “When I saw him in the morning with his wife and son at our parents’ house he was so happy, and promised to come home again on the weekend.”
“He saw his job in the Border Police as a mission for his country,” said another family member.
Former Member of Knesset Assad Assad (Likud), the slain officer’s cousin, said, “I call on our prime minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, to do everything possible to put out the flames and to prevent unrest on the Temple Mount. Only peace will bring calm and stop the killing.”
Driver who rammed into IDF soldiers in Gush Etzion turns himself in
(JNS.org) Palestinian man Hamam Mesalmeh, the driver responsible for ramming a car into three Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Gush Etzion on Wednesday, turned himself in to security forces and claimed responsibility for the terror attack on Thursday afternoon.
The three IDF soldiers were moderately to seriously wounded in the attack while they were guarding the area on Route 60, close to the Al-Aroub refugee camp in Gush Etzion.
“This vehicular terrorist attack proves, without a doubt, that we are currently in the midst of a third intifada, which [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas is orchestrating by inciting and encouraging terrorist attacks,” Gush Etzion Regional Council head David Pearl said, according to Israel Hayom.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Arab terrorist intentionally ran his vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians near the Shimon Hatzadik light rail station in Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding at least 13 others.
Amnesty International official compares Israel to Islamic State on Twitter
(JNS.org) A senior official with Amnesty International U.K., which recently released a report condemning Israel, compared Israel with the Islamic State terror group on Twitter.
Kristyan Benedict, campaign manager for Amnesty International U.K.,tweeted on Tuesday, “Israeli regimes response to our Gaza report: Amnesty is ‘a propaganda tool for Hamas & other terror groups.’” Benedict also used the #JSIL hashtag, which stands for “Jewish State of Israel in the Levant,” a play on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that was first introduced by prominent anti-Israel activists Max Blumenthal and Rania Khalek in early October.
Benedict’s tweet was a response to Israel’s criticism of the newly released Amnesty International report on Israel’s conduct during the summer war with Hamas. In the report, Amnesty accused Israel of displaying “callous indifference” in alleged attacks on civilian homes in the densely populated Gaza Strip. Amnesty said Israel’s actions amounted to war crimes.
But Israel rejected the report’s findings, saying that the Amnesty report “ignores documented war crimes perpetrated by Hamas.”
In reaction to Benedict’s tweet, the Israeli Embassy in London questioned Amnesty’s integrity.
“Amnesty’s campaigns manager has unfortunately compromised the integrity of his organization, by choosing to use the #JSIL hashtag, used by the most extreme activists to compare Israel with the ISIS terror group,” the embassy said in a statement.
Jordan recalls ambassador to Israel, blames Jewish state for Jerusalem unrest
(JNS.org) Amid an uptick in Palestinian terrorism in Israel’s capital, the Jordanian government recalled its ambassador to the Jewish state over what it described as an “unprecedented Israeli escalation in Jerusalem.”
On Wednesday, a Palestinian terrorist slammed his vehicle into pedestrians near the Shimon HaTzadik light rail station in Jerusalem, killing one person and injuring a dozen others. The incident follows a similar attack two weeks ago in which an infant and an Ecuadorian woman were killed at the Ammunition Hill light rail station.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli police were forced to close the Temple Mount to worshippers due to Palestinians hurling stones and firecrackers.
Yet Jordan is blaming Israel for the recent unrest, instructing its delegation at the United Nations to “lodge an official complaint to the Security Council,” Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani told Reuters.
Jordan will “continue to confront, through all available means, Israeli unilateral policies and measures in Jerusalem and preserve its Muslim and Christian holy sites, until peace is restored to the land of peace,” Jordan’s King Abdullah said in a recent speech, according to the Jordanian news agency Petra.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Paul Hirschson told JNS.org, “We regret the Jordanian decision [to recall its ambassador], which doesn’t contribute to calming the situation. We would expect Jordan to condemn the violence, deliberately instigated from [the Palestinian city of] Ramallah.”
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Jewish Republicans: we played ‘important role’ in GOP retaking the Senate
(JNS.org) The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) said it played an “important role” in the Republican party retaking control of the U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The GOP now holds an advantage of at least 52-45 over the Democrats in the Senate, with two independent senators and Louisiana’s race yet to be decided. The Republicans also expanded their majority in the House of Representatives to at least 246 out of 435 seats, the party’s largest majority since World War II.
“Our members contributed and raised millions of dollars for campaigns around the country,” RJC said in a statement. “The RJCPAC (political action committee) made significant contributions to critical races. And our grassroots events energized our members to participate in get-out-the-vote efforts. We are proud of the terrific men and women of the RJC who helped make a difference for the GOP in this important election year.”
RJC added that the new Republican-led Congress “will offer alternatives to the policies of the Obama administration and pursue critical priorities, including enhanced sanctions to prevent a nuclear Iran, economic reforms that will encourage job creation and put us back on a path of growth and prosperity for American families, as well as standing up to the undisguised hostility of the Obama administration against Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu and rebuilding our essential relationship with Israel.”
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), meanwhile, said it hopes “that the powers and prestige of the president will not be a target of Republicans who are already looking to 2016.”
“NJDC looks forward to the months ahead to focus on the agenda of concerns for our country—voting rights, civil rights, economic growth and justice, immigration reform, accessible health care, and more,” NJDC said in a statement. “And of course we put support for a safe and secure State of Israel at the forefront of our efforts.”
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