Daily Jewish News Briefs: January 1, 2015

-Summary by JNS.org–

Palestinian terrorist behind murder of 3 teens convicted

(Israel Hayom/ Exclusive to JNS.org) Husam Qawasmeh, the Palestinian terrorist who planned kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Gil-ad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach last June, was convicted in a military court on Wednesday on all charges against him.

Qawasmeh admitted to planning the attack that was carried out on June 12 by Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh. The attack was funded by a 200,000 shekel ($51,000) transfer from Husam Qawasmeh’s brother, Mahmoud Qawasmeh, a Hamas operative who was released from Israeli prison in the 2011 Gilad Schalit swap deal and deported to the Gaza Strip.

Husam Qawasmeh admitted to purchasing the weapon used in the attack and also helping to bury the bodies of the murdered teens in a field north of Hebron. Additionally, he said he helped remove evidence from the burial site.
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Jewish immigration to Israel reaches 10-year high in 2014

(JNS.org) Jewish immigration to Israel reached a 10-year high in 2014 with the arrival of 26,500 new immigrants.

According to year-end figures from The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, 2014 saw a 32 percent rise in immigration over last year’s number of approximately 20,000 immigrants.

2014 also marked the first time France was the top country for immigrants, with nearly 7,000 immigrants in 2014, nearly doubling the 3,400 in 2013. France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, has been plagued by increasing anti-Semitism.  As a result, the Israeli government has stepped up efforts to encourage French immigration such as streamlining the absorption process as well as recognizing education and job qualifications of French immigrants.

“2014 was a year of record-breaking Aliyah,” Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency stated. “This year also saw a historic shift: for the first time in Israel’s history, the number of immigrants who came to Israel from the free world is greater than that of immigrants fleeing countries in distress,” he said.

Additionally, there was a 190 percent increase in immigration from Ukraine, with 5,840 new immigrants, compared to only 2,020 in 2013. The dramatic increase is largely the result of ongoing political instability in that country related to tensions between the Ukrainian government and Russia.

Other areas that saw modest gains in immigration in 2014 were from North America, where there were 3,870 new immigrants compared to 3,600 in 2013. This included approximately 3,470 from the United States and 400 immigrants from Canada.

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Netanyahu remains as Likud party head after overwhelming victory

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been voted in as head of the ruling Likud party, overcoming his first hurdle toward winning a fourth term in office in the upcoming March general elections, results of a party primary issued Thursday showed.

“Likud chose an amazing list,” Netanyahu said in a press conference following his victory. “Contrary to early forecasts, the members of Likud chose a balanced, responsible list that will help me continue governing the country responsibly, with security and success. That is the true spirit of the Likud Party,” Netanyahu said.

The votes, cast by approximately 55 percent of the 96,000 registered Likud members at 115 polling stations around the country, were counted by hand.

MK Danny Danon, who vied for the leadership of the party against Netanyahu but lost, conceded defeat about an hour after the vote ended. Ultimately, Netanyahu won 75 percent of the vote while Danon garnered only 19 percent.

According to early results, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Interior Minister Gilad Erdan were neck and neck, more or less equally likely to secure the top spot on the Knesset list after the prime minister, followed by Gilad Erdan, Yisrael Katz, Miri Regev and Silvan Shalom.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Coalition Chairman Zeev Elkin, Yariv Levin and Tzahi Hanegbi rounded out the likely top ten.

Palestinians to join International Criminal Court

(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the Palestinians will join the International Criminal Court (ICC), paving the way for the Palestinians to press charges against Israel in the global tribunal.

The move comes just a day after the defeat of a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank by 2017. Abbas said that the Security Council let the Palestinian people down.

“There is aggression practiced against our land and our country, and the Security Council has let us down—where shall we go?” he said.

“As long as there is no peace, and the world doesn’t prioritize peace in this region, this region will live in constant conflict,” added Abbas. “The Palestinian cause is the key issue to be settled.”

Abbas has long promised to join the ICC as a way to put pressure on Israel, opening up the possibility that Israel could be tried for war crimes. But by joining the ICC, the Palestinians also open themselves up to war crimes probes as well as possible repercussions such as sanctions by the U.S., which opposes Palestinian unilateralism.

Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation For Defense of Democracies, toldJNS.org that he believes the latest developments for the Palestinians may signal the growing desperation of Abbas.

“My sense is that Palestinian unilateralism is losing its luster at the United Nations, but also on the Palestinian street,” Schanzer said.

“When the [Palestinian diplomatic campaign] began, it was novel and there was a sense that it could truly change the dynamics,” he said. “But it increasingly looks like Abbas falls back on this strategy when all else fails, but without achieving real results. It also looks like he is deliberately choosing to turn away from diplomacy in favor of this fruitless approach. The end result is the international community and the Palestinian street are growing weary of these diplomatic theatrics.”

HarperCollins Publishers omits Israel from school maps in Muslim countries

(JNS.org) HarperCollins Publishers has omitted Israel from maps that will be used in English-speaking schools in Muslim countries in the Middle East.

The maps, which do not demarcate Israel, depict Jordan and Syria extending all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, with only Gaza and the West Bank being labeled.

Collins Bartholomew—the subsidiary of HarperCollins that specializes in maps—told The Tablet, a Catholic U.K. weekly newspaper, that including Israel would have been “unacceptable” to its customers in the Middle East and that it adjusted the maps to meet “local preferences.”

According to HarperCollins, the atlas is being “developed specifically for schools in the Middle East” in order to “give in-depth coverage of the region and its issues.”

Bishop Declan Lang, chairman of the Bishops’ Conference Department of International Affairs, told The Tablet that the omission of Israel would harm efforts towards peace.

“The publication of this atlas will confirm Israel’s belief that there exists hostility towards their country from parts of the Arab world,” said Lang. “It will not help to build up a spirit of trust leading to peaceful co-existence.”

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