JNS news briefs: November 20, 2014

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Arab Knesset member’s aide: we’ll slaughter 50 Jews at soccer game
(JNS.org) Israeli Knesset Security Chief Yosef Griff on Wednesday revoked the entry permit to the Knesset for Khaled Bashir, an aide to Arab MK Masud Ganaim (Ra’am-Ta’al), who was overheard by a Knesset security guard as saying “we’ll slaughter 50 Jews” at next Sunday’s soccer game between Beitar Jerusalem and Bnei Sakhnin.

The security guard quickly reported Bashir’s comments to the police and to Griff, who summoned the two for a hearing and consulted with Knesset legal adviser Eyal Yanon. Bashir’s entrance permit to the Knesset was then revoked.

After an inquiry into Bashir’s statement is completed, it will be decided whether to reinstate his entrance permit or revoke it permanently.

Ganaim said, “I strongly condemn these comments, but [Bashir] claims he said it in jest.”
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Jews and Druze ‘will fight the murderers’ together, minister says at policeman’s funeral
(JNS.org) Thousands came to pay their last respects on Wednesday to Israeli Druze policeman Zidan Saif, who was killed on duty while confronting Palestinian terrorists in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday. Saif—the first police officer to enter the scene of the bloody terror attack, in which he and four Jewish worshippers were killed—was buried near his home in the Western Galilee.

“He went first into the fire to protect the residents of Jerusalem. Without fear, he faced the terrorists and risked his life to protect the residents of Jerusalem. He acted on the values on which he was raised—courage, valor, self-sacrifice,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said at Saif’s funeral.

Another Druze police officer, Jadan Assad, was killed in a recent vehicular terror attack on a Jerusalem light rail station.

“[Saif] is a source of pride for you, the Druze people, for the police, and for the people of Israel,” said Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch. “The values that you instilled in him compelled him to protect, and he fell while defending the state of Israel. We have that shared fate. Together we will fight the murderers.”
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Jonathan Pollard denied parole request, group advocating his release says
(JNS.org) Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. citizen convicted of spying for Israel in 1985, was denied a parole request, according to an activist group working for Pollard’s release.

The Campaign for the Release of Jonathan Pollard said a U.S. Justice Department parole board rejected a request to have Pollard released.

The statement quoted U.S. officials as saying that releasing Pollard would “constitute contempt for the severity of the offense and promote a lack of respect for the law.”

While the group did not release any further details on the hearing, it suggested that it would soon release evidence highlighting the White House’s attempts to prevent Pollard from being released.

In a March 2013 interview with Israel’s Channel 2, President Barack Obama said he had no immediate plans to release Pollard. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Pollard might be freed as part of a three-way deal between the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinian Authority to restart peace talks. But no such deal materialized.

Prominent officials in the intelligence community and elsewhere who have called for Pollard’s release include former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz; William Webster, head of the FBI at the time of Pollard’s arrest; former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, who served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee at the time of Pollard’s sentencing; former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb; former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, who served under President Ronald Reagan when Pollard was investigated; former CIA Director James Woolsey; and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, among others.

Lebanese official: Syria interfered with Lebanon-Israel peace talks
(JNS.org) Lebanese parliament member Marwan Hamade told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague this week that the Syrian government has blocked Lebanon from negotiating a peace treaty with Israel.

Hamade was a close ally of assassinated Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and made the allegation as part of testimony against Hariri’s alleged killers. Hariri was one of 22 people killed in a 2005 bombing. Five senior Hezbollah terrorist operatives accused of murdering Hariri are on trial in absentia.

Before his death, Hariri was known for his desire to normalize Lebanon in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal from the south of the country in 2000. The Syrian government, as well as Lebanon-based Hezbollah, opposed Hariri’s goals.

In an attempt to influence Lebanese foreign policy, Syria  “forbade” Lebanon from engaging in peace talks with Israel “before Syria was done” negotiating with the Jewish state, Hamade said, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The Syrian government, he added, also encouraged Hezbollah to continue “armed resistance” by supporting Hezbollah’s claim that part of Lebanese territory remains “occupied” by Israel despite the country’s withdrawal from there.

Israeli digital content provider Outbrain partners with Time Inc.
(JNS.org) The Israeli digital content-recommendation company Outbrain Inc. has signed an agreement with Time Inc. that is expected to generate more than $100 million.

Time’s partnership with Outbrain will help enhance the major U.S. media company’s digital strategy by integrating Outbrain’s algorithmically generated recommendations, thereby providing additional relevant content to Time’s worldwide audience.

Outbrain has experienced major growth since it was founded in 2006 by CEO Yaron Galai and General Manager Ori Lahav. Not including the upcoming partnership with Time, Outbrain is expected to finish this year with $200 million in revenue. The company now creates more than 190 billion content recommendations per month to consumers in more than 150 countries.

“Outbrain’s focus on audience experience and surfacing optimized content recommendations was a key to launching this partnership. It maximizes the monetization of our audience to other content publishers. And, it provides key insights and analytics about our core digital users,” Time Inc. Chairman and CEO Joe Ripp told Globes.

“We are delighted to announce our agreement with Time Inc. and believe that smart and innovative companies like it are the lifeblood of the new look digital media industry,” Galai said.

‘You’re Beautiful’ singer James Blunt to perform in Tel Aviv
(JNS.org) British singer James Blunt will perform at Tel Aviv Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena in February 2015 as part of a tour promoting his fourth album, “Moon Landing.”

Blunt’s first album, “Back to Bedlam,” has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, and his most recognizable single is the 2005 hit song “You’re Beautiful.” But Blunt recently criticized his own song, telling Hello! Magazine that “You’re Beautiful” is annoying and “was force-fed down people’s throats.”

Before rising to fame in 2004, Blunt served in the British army and for NATO troops in Kosovo during the conflict there in 1999.

Congregants return to pray at Jerusalem synagogue 24 hours after terror attack
(JNS.org) Congregants on Wednesday returned to Jerusalem’s Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue to hold morning prayer services just a day after the gruesome terror attack there that left five dead.

“I was second to arrive this morning and I just burst into tears when I entered, but we are a God fearing people. It’s as if everything is normal here, they fixed everything right up like it used to be, they did too good of a job,” Kehilat Bnei Torah congregant Yossi Brazzeni toldYnet.

Approximately 30 congregants were joined at services by several Israeli political leaders, including Economy Minister Naftali Bennett (leader of the Habayit Hayehudi party) and Member of Knesset Rabbi Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid).

“I was inspired by the intensity of this morning’s prayers and was touched deeply by the cries and tears of those who publicly gave thanks to God for surviving yesterday’s attack,” Lipman said.

UCLA student government votes to divest from Israel
(JNS.org) The undergraduate student government at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) voted to divest from American companies that do business in Israel.

According to the Daily Bruin, the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) voted 8-2-2 for the measure that calls for the University of California to divest from American companies that allegedly profit “from human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

Most of the public comments on the resolution came from supporters and lasted around 90 minutes. Representatives from the pro-Israel group Bruins for Israel, as well as Hillel and J Street U, were given 15 minutes to explain their opposition to the resolution.

The current resolution comes after the student government rejected a similar proposal 7-5 last February after a nine hour marathon debate.

Eytan Davidovits, president of Bruins for Israel, said that he thinks the resolution focuses too much on polarizing global issues and the USAC should instead focus on issues that students on campus face.

USAC President Avinoam Baral, who is the only Israeli-born student on the council, apologized to pro-Israel students after the vote for not being able to do more to stop the resolution. USAC presidents do not generally participate in such votes unless there is a tie.

“I’m sorry I could not represent you how you wanted me to represent you,” Baral said, the Daily Bruin reported.

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