Palestinian terrorist wounds more than a dozen in Tel Aviv stabbing attack
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) More than a dozen Israelis were wounded, with at least four suffering serious injuries, when a Palestinian terrorist went on a stabbing spree at a main road intersection in central Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning.
A Palestinian male in his 20s from Tulkarem who had entered Israel illegally boarded Dan Bus No. 40, which was making its way from Bat Yam to northern Tel Aviv, at the Maariv junction. The terrorist pulled out a knife and stabbed the driver as well as a number of passengers before fleeing the bus. He then stabbed several nearby pedestrians.
The terrorist, who was later identified in media reports as Hamza Matrouk, was shot in the leg by Israel Prison Service (IPS) personnel who happened to be passing by the scene at the time of the attack. The IPS personnel detained the terrorist, who was lightly wounded, until police arrived to arrest him.
The Israelis wounded in the attack were transported to Sourasky Medical Center or Sheba Medical Center for treatment. Dr. Pini Halperin, head of the emergency room at Sourasky, said, “The terrorist tried to harm as many people as possible. He struck each wounded person at least once or twice. It appears he used a very sharp knife.”
Following the attack, the Israel Police raised its alert level across the country.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq called the attack “brave and heroic,” saying it was a carried out by a “hero.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was “the direct result of the poisonous incitement being disseminated by the Palestinian Authority (PA) against the Jews and their state. This same terrorism is trying to attack us in Paris, Brussels, and everywhere.”
“It is Hamas—the partners [of PA President Mahmoud Abbas] in a unity government—who hastened to commend this attack,” said Netanyahu. “This is the same Hamas that announced it will sue Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Abu Mazen (Abbas) is responsible for both the incitement and the dangerous move at the ICC in The Hague.”
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In State of the Union, Obama vows to veto Iran sanctions bill
(JNS.org) In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Barack Obama vowed to veto “any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo” the “progress” of ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and Western powers.
“Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies — including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict,” Obama said. “There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails — alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress. The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.”
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks responded that while Obama has been in office, “Iran keeps getting more time to spin their centrifuges and get closer to a nuclear weapon.”
“Despite pleas from Congress and the international community, the president, after exhaustive negotiations to halt their program, is rewarding Iran with yet more time,” Brooks said. “Giving Iran more time puts our national security and our Middle Eastern allies security—especially Israel—at risk. The Obama administration’s Iran policy is failing. Congress needs to place enhanced sanctions on Iran to demonstrate that we are serious about halting their nuclear weapons program. The president’s veto threat will only empower and embolden Iran to continue as a threat to the entire region and world.”
In November 2013, Iran and the P5+1 powers (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany) signed an interim nuclear deal that limited new Western sanctions against Iran and provided a window for negotiations for a comprehensive deal. But the deadline for a final deal has been extended several times, with the latest deadline being June 30, 2015.
In his Tuesday address, Obama also alluded to the recent terror attacks at the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket in Paris.
“We stand united with people around the world who’ve been targeted by terrorists – from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris,” he said. “We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we’ve done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies….
“As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world. It’s why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims — the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace.”
The president also addressed his decision to reform America’s relationship with Cuba as well as the release of Jewish-American aid worker Alan Gross from a Cuban jail in December. Gross was present at the State of the Union address.
“Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people,” Obama said. “And this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo. As His Holiness, Pope Francis, has said, diplomacy is the work of ‘small steps.’ These small steps have added up to new hope for the future in Cuba. And after years in prison, we’re overjoyed that Alan Gross is back where he belongs. Welcome home, Alan.”
Egypt considering importing natural gas from Israel
(JNS.org) Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail said that Egypt is considering importing natural gas from Israel to alleviate its shortage of the resource.
“Anything can happen. Whatever achieves the best interests of Egypt, and of the Egyptian economy and the role of Egypt in the region… that will determine the decision to import gas from Israel,”Ismail told the state-owned Al Mussawar magazine, Reuters reported.
Private companies are reportedly already negotiating to bring Israeli gas to Egypt, but any agreement will need to be approved on the government level.
Despite the fact that Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, many in Egypt’s government and society still view the Jewish state with distrust. But in recent years, the two countries have found themselves increasingly working together against terrorism in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, which borders southern Israel.
The Israeli company Delek Drilling has estimated that if an agreement is signed, gas can begin flowing from Israel to Egypt in 2017.
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Israeli government, StandWithUs partner on new ‘Social Media Ambassadors’ program
(JNS.org) The Israel education organization StandWithUs and the National Information Directorate of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office are partnering on the new “Social Media Ambassadors” program, which will educate young people (with an emphasis on university students) about how to use social media to educate others about Israel.
Participants of the year-long educational program—which will initially be offered in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Israel—will be trained to tell Israel’s story from their own points of view using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms.
The effort comes against the backdrop of a social media environment in which anti-Israel activists regularly target the Jewish state.
“Much of [anti-Israel social media users’] output has no basis in reality, but they don’t care about what is true or not, as long as they take aim at Israel,” StandWithUs Israel Director Michael Dickson toldJNS.org. “But we can redress the balance and make an impact on social media for Israel, too. We need to expose these lies and, at the same time, reach out to people about the real Israel—democratic, diverse, and sizzling with creative energy and the ancient nation-state of the Jewish people that is also the modern, dynamic, start-up nation.”
In particular, anti-Israel activists took to social media after the recent Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris to float conspiracy theories that Israel was behind the attacks.
“Similar to every other forum, the Internet is a place where crazy theories regarding Israel and the Jews are often abound,” Dickson said. “We would advise participants in the [Social Media Ambassadors] program to judge each case on its merit. Some conspiracy theories don’t deserve the oxygen of publicity, but when a story gains traction it often needs to be exposed.”
StandWithUs, which operates social media accounts in 13 different languages, brings 4,000 followers on Instagram, 61,400 followers on Twitter (with tweets reaching more than a million users), and more than 500,000 “likes” on Facebook (with weekly posts reaching as many as 30 million users) to the ambassadors initiative. The Prime Minister’s Office chose StandWithUs as a partner “based on our experience and expertise, to deliver a program aiming at getting Israeli students, as well as some of their peers abroad, to share the reality of Israel,” said Dickson.
“The Prime Minister’s Office has rightly identified that the reality of Israel is best portrayed through the eyes of citizens and those who visit Israel,” Dickson said.
According to Dickson, StandWithUs set up the first-ever pro-Israel social media situation rooms in 2009 during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and has worked with partners to do the same for every similar conflict since, including last summer’s Operation Protective Edge.
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Iraqi Christian leader calls on Muslims to lead fight against Islamic fundamentalism
(JNS.org) Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael I Sako called on Muslims to lead the fight to “dismantle the fundamentalist ideology” that has become a pervasive force in their religion.
At a conference in Baghdad last weekend that was organized by the Iraqi Center for Diversity Management, Patriarch Sako called upon Muslims “to take the initiative and lead a campaign of rejecting any sectarian discrimination,” Asia News reported.
Islamic State jihadists conquered wide swaths of northern Iraq last summer, displacing more than 1.8 million Iraqis, including Christians, from their ancient homelands. According to estimates, more than 125,000 Christians from the city of Mosul and the Nineveh Plains region were displaced.
These Christian communities “are now marginalized,” Sako said. Iraqi Christians “have been treated in a harsh and brutal manner,” and today in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains there “is not a single Christian left,” he said.
Sako blamed these developments not only the terrorism of Islamic State, but also on the “takfiris” ideology, which considers Muslims opposed to the ideology of violence and oppression to be “unbelievers.”
In his speech, Sako outlined several proposals in order to build a more tolerant Iraq—including building an open and enlightened Islamic religion through reviewing texts, adopting the appropriate interpretation of texts, and ending the influence of those who persuade young people to use violence in the name of religion. Sako also called on Muslim religious and political authorities to play a lead role in overcoming violence.
Senators seek 2/3 majority to override Obama veto on Iran sanctions bill
(JNS.org) Supporters of a new Iran sanctions bill in the U.S. Senate are looking to secure the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto from President Barack Obama, reports say.
According to The Hill, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are moving quickly to bring a new Iran sanctions bill, titled Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015, to the Senate floor for a vote.
“We have a fighting chance of getting strong, overwhelming support as we have in the past,” a senior congressional aide told The Hill.
The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee is planning on debating the bill on Thursday. While it is unclear if the bill would come to the Senate floor for a vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he wants to act on it “very quickly.”
Last week, Obama and Menendez had a tense argument over the Iran sanctions bill behind closed doors at a Democratic meeting in Baltimore, the New York Times reported. Obama urged Democratic lawmakers not to pursue sanctions legislation, which he feels would undermine his authority and derail nuclear talks with Iran.
In November 2013, Iran and the P5+1 powers (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany) signed an interim nuclear deal that limited new Western sanctions against Iran and provided a window for negotiations for a comprehensive deal. But the deadline for a final deal has been extended several times, with the latest deadline being June 30, 2015.
The new Menendez-Kirk bill expands on existing sanctions on Iran’s financial and energy sections, and would kick in if Iran and world powers fail to reach an agreement by the end of June.
In Israel, Japanese prime minister demands release of Islamic State hostages
(JNS.org) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanded that the Islamic State release two Japanese hostages.
“We strongly demand the release of the Japanese citizens unharmed,” Abe told reporters in Jerusalem on Tuesday during his six-day tour of the Middle East, Reuters reported. “The international community needs to respond firmly and cooperate without caving into terrorism.”
In the video, a masked Islamic State terrorist wielding a knife in front of two Japanese men wearing orange jumpsuits demands that Japan pay a $200 million ransom.
“To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,500 kilometers (5,280 miles) from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade,” the Islamic State fighter said. “You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims,” he said, referring to Japan’s contribution to the U.S.-led efforts to combat Islamic State.
The two hostages were identified as Kenji Goto Jogo, a freelance journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, a private military contractor.
Speaking in Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said his country would not give in to terrorism.
“Our country’s stance—contributing to the fight against terrorism without giving in—remains unchanged,” Suga said.
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