JNS News Briefs: December 17, 2014

 

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Jewish contractor Alan Gross freed in American-Cuban prisoner swap

(JNS.org) Jewish-American aid worker Alan Gross has been released from Cuban prison after five years, major media outlets reported Wednesday morning, citing United States officials. The U.S. secured Gross’s freedom in exchange for the release of three Cubans imprisoned in America.

Gross, a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development who went to Cuba to help the Jewish community there access the Internet, received a 15-year prison sentence for what the Cuban government called “crimes against the state.” He marked his fifth year of incarceration on Dec. 3, and his health has deteriorated drastically, according to his family.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) had expressed optimism about Gross’s future upon visiting Gross in November.

“I do feel we are closer [to Gross’s freedom],” Flake said last month. “One, because of what Alan Gross has said himself. This is going to end one way or another. We have gone on five years and any benefit the Cuban government may have seen has to have evaporated.”

The Cuban prisoners exchanged for Gross are reportedly members of the “Cuban Five,” a group of men who were part of a network sent by former Cuban president Fidel Castro to spy on the U.S. from south Florida. In 2001, they were convicted of conspiracy and failure to register as foreign agents.

EU court annuls Hamas terror designation without assessing group’s actions

(JNS.org) The second-highest court within the European Union (EU) on Wednesday ruled that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas should be removed from the EU’s list of terrorist organizations, but at the same time stated that its decision was made on procedural grounds and did not constitute a “substantive assessment” of the issue.

Members nations of the European bloc can still freeze Hamas’s assets for three months while the verdict is reviewed and possibly appealed, according to the EU’s General Court. The court said it did not consider Hamas’s actions in annulling the terror designation, but that instead it evaluated the initial decision-making process behind the designation in 2003.

“The burden of proof is on the European Union,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization, with the stated goal, in its charter, of destroying Israel. We will continue to fight against it with determination and strength, so that it will never achieve this aim.”

The court said in a statement that it relied on media and Internet reports, rather than authoritative opinions, in making the ruling.

“The court stresses that those annulments, on fundamental procedural grounds, do not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group,” the court said.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said the ruling “sends a terrible signal” regardless of the “legal aspects involved here.”

“Although it only annuls the unanimous decision taken by the EU member states in 2003 on procedural grounds, [the ruling] gives Hamas a huge moral victory and will strengthen it vis-à-vis moderate forces in the Palestinian territories,” Lauder said in a statement.

“Let’s not forget one important thing: The decision to blacklist Hamas was taken in 2003 after 22 Israelis were killed in a Hamas-orchestrated bus bombing,” added Lauder. “It is especially ironic that today, at a time when not just Western countries such as Canada and the U.S., but also moderate Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan, consider Hamas a terrorist group, the European Union shouldn’t anymore.”

Arrested Israeli spy was in charge of Hezbollah chief’s personal security, report says

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Following Tuesday’s revelation that the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah recently exposed a double agent who was working for Israel, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported that the arrested agent had been in charge of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s personal security.

According to Lebanese reports, the double agent, identified only by the initials M. Sh., was a businessman who was recruited by the Israeli Mossad during a trip to western Asia. The agent reportedly relayed information to Israel about Hezbollah plans to target Israelis or Jews in retribution for the assassination of former military commander Imad Mughnyieh.

Israel has never confirmed having killed Mughniyeh, who died in a car bomb blast in Syria in 2008, but Hezbollah has long accused Israel of being behind the assassination.

According to the Kuwaiti report, once the Mossad agent was exposed, Hezbollah removed several high-ranking operatives from their posts or reassigned them to less sensitive units. After handling Nasrallah’s personal security, the Israeli spy had been promoted to Hezbollah’s elite and clandestine “910” external security organization.

Medal of Valor awarded to Israeli Druze policeman killed in synagogue attack

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Zidan Saif, an Israeli Druze policeman who was killed while fighting Palestinian terrorists in last month’s synagogue attack in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood, was posthumously awarded a Medal of Valor on Tuesday at an Israel Police ceremony.

At the event, the police presented seven Medals of Courage, 15 Medals of Valor, and 20 Police Commissioner Citations to the counterterrorism unit, police officers, commanders, a volunteer, and one civilian. Chief Warrant Officer Pascal Avrahami, who died following a terrorist attack in southern Israel, was also awarded a Medal of Valor.

The civilian who received a Medal of Valor was Hadas Mizrahi, the wife of late Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi, who was killed when Palestinian terrorists fired at his family car on Passover eve. Hadas was recognized for her inspirational conduct in the wake of the attack.

Israel discovers its third offshore gas field

(JNS.org) The Israeli government announced the discovery of a new offshore gas field located 90 miles from Israel’s coast that holds at least 3.2 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The field, which has been named “Royee,” will be drilled starting in December 2015. If the estimates on the amount of oil contained inside are correct, Royee will become the fourth-largest gas field located in the Mediterranean Basin.

Two larger offshore fields, Tamar and Leviathan, were discovered by Israel in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Those fields are already expected to satisfy most of Israel’s natural gas needs for the next 100 years. But gas experts believe that additional fields such as Royee will continue to be discovered as offshore exploration continues.

“At the national level, the news means a lot. We have learned that the Levantine basin holds reservoirs at other depths and I hope the next government will exploit the opportunity by encouraging entrepreneurs to continue the exploring and developing,” said Eyal Shuker, CEO of Israel Opportunity, which holds a 10-percent stake in the Royee project.

EU Parliament backtracks on resolution to recognize Palestinian state

(JNS.org) European Parliament members on Tuesday declined to propose an initially planned motion that would have urged the European Union’s (EU) 28 member nations to recognize a unilaterally established Palestinian state.

Instead, the EU Parliament’s lawmakers proposed a resolution asking for the continuation of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Negotiators for the European People’s Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, parties that together hold a majority of the EU Parliament seats, issued a resolution stating that the EU Parliament “supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced.”

A vote on the new resolution will take place Wednesday in Stasbourg, France.

Report: U.S. will veto Palestinian resolution for U.N.-imposed peace plan

(JNS.org) The U.S. will use its veto power at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to block an upcoming Palestinian resolution that asks the UNSC to outline the territorial terms of a peace deal with Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday, citing Palestinian sources familiar with the content of a meeting between Kerry and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

But when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday in London, the site of his meeting with Erekat, Kerry stopped short of assuring the U.S. veto.

“We’ve made no determinations about language, approaches, specific resolutions, any of that,” Kerry said Tuesday. “This isn’t the time to detail private conversations or speculate on a U.N. Security Council resolution that hasn’t even been tabled.”

The Palestinian-initiated U.N. resolution sets a November 2016 deadline for Israeli pullout from the West Bank, which would bring Israel’s borders back to the pre-1967 lines. Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Rome on Monday to discuss the Palestinian measure. Both Israel and the U.S. have traditionally opposed any territorial arrangement that is attained by one party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and not through direct negotiations between the two sides.

“The American government has backed our policy for 47 years that any solution between us and the Palestinians will be done through negotiations. … I don’t see any reason that would change,” Netanyahu told reporters after his meeting with Kerry, according to Bloomberg News.

Shaare Zedek hospital performs Israel’s first single-incision lung surgery

(JNS.org) A malignant lung tumor was removed with just one incision for the first time in Israeli history by doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

In an operation that usually requires multiple incisions, Drs. Danny Fink and Faras Abu Acher recently managed to excise the tumor with a single four-centimeter incision in the lower lobe between the ribs, the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center said in a press release. The procedure, called “thoracoscopy,” involves a tiny video camera and surgical instruments being inserted through the lung. The patient was discharged from Shaare Zedek four days later.

A year ago, Spanish surgeon Dr. Diego Gonzales visited Shaare Zedek to teach the thoracoscopy technique to Fink and Abu Acher. According to Fink, completing the surgery with a single incision decreases pain, scarring, and recovery time.

Netanyahu sends Australian PM condolence letter on jihadist attack

(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a condolence letter to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday following the deaths of two hostages in the terrorist siege on the Lindt cafe in Sydney.

On Monday, Iranian jihadist Man Haron Monis entered the cafe with a gun and took the employees and patrons inside as hostages. He forced some of the 17 hostages to display a jihadist flag on the cafe’s window. Sixteen hours after the ordeal began, local security forces stormed the cafe and rescued the hostages. Four hostages were injured in addition to the two that were killed. Monis, who previously faced dozens of sexual assault charges, also died.

“Israel and Australia face the same scourge of ruthless Islamist terrorism which knows no geographic bounds and targets innocent civilians indiscriminately,” Netanyahu wrote to Abbott. “Now, more than ever, the international community must join hands and work together to defeat these forces of evil, which threaten the security of all civilized nations. … Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the people of Australia at this difficult time.”

Israeli discovery might enable early detection of uterine and colon cancers

(JNS.org) A recent discovery in a study by Israeli researchers might allow for the early detection and possible prevention of colon and uterine cancers.

Among populations of different backgrounds in Israel, the study—conducted by researchers at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva, and Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv—identified a genetic mutation related to Lynch syndrome that increases the risk of colon and uterine cancers. The populations affected by the mutation include Jews of European, Iranian, Afghan, and Georgian descent.

Being able to detect a mutation that is characteristic of a certain population makes identifying the syndrome much simpler and cheaper.

“The study is of immense importance in the prevention and early treatment of cancer,” said Prof. Tamar Peretz, the senior oncologist and acting director-general of Hadassah Hospital, according to Israel Hayom. “Identifying the genetic mutation allows us to find subsets of healthy people who carry that mutation, and put them on an early prevention and observation program. Early detection of cancer is one of the most important tools in healing the deadly disease.”

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