Mossad distances itself from report that it opposes new Iran sanctions
(JNS.org) Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency distanced itself from a report that it opposes new American sanctions against Iran.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Mossad Director Tamir Pardo told U.S. representatives visiting Israel this week that applying sanctions on Iran now, when negotiations on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program are ongoing, would be like “tossing a grenade into the process.”
The Mossad responded by issuing a rare press release, stating, “The head of the Mossad noted that in negotiating with Iran, it is essential to present both carrots and sticks and that the latter are currently lacking. The head of the Mossad noted further that in the absence of strong pressure, the Iranians will make no meaningful compromises.”
“Regarding the reported reference to ‘throwing a grenade,’ the head of the Mossad did not use this expression regarding the imposition of sanctions, which he believes to be the sticks necessary for reaching a good deal with Iran,” the statement said. “The head of the Mossad pointed out explicitly that the bad agreement taking shape with Iran is likely to lead to a regional arms race.”
The Bloomberg News report came after President Barack Obama’s vow to veto a new Iran sanctions bill during his Jan. 20 State of the Union address. Following the address, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio) invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on the Iranian nuclear issue and radical Islam. While Netanyahu accepted the invitation, the White House said Boehner’s invitation was a breach of “protocol” because Obama was not contacted about the visit. But Boehner said Congress “can make this decision on its own” and that Obama “papered over” the Iranian threat during the State of the Union.
Arab parties merge ahead of Israeli Knesset elections
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s Arab political parties—Balad, Ra’am-Ta’al, and Hadash—on Thursday announced that they will be vying in the March 17 Knesset elections on a joint ticket. Newly elected Hadash party leader Aiman Ouda has been chosen to head the new Arab list, whose name has yet to be announced.
While polls predicted an independent race by the Arab parties would see Ra’am-Ta’al and Hadash each win only handful of seats, Balad was predicted to fail to meet the election threshold altogether, which would have excluded it from the Knesset for the first time since 1996.
A joint ticket, however, could see the Arab parties win as many as 14 Knesset seats, potentially making them the fourth-largest faction in the Knesset. Balad party chairman MK Jamal Zahalka called the joint Arab ticket “our answer to the racist right and to those who wanted to annihilate Arab representation in Israeli politics.”
Arab Knesset members have been known for their anti-Israel rhetoric, particularly MK Hanin Zoabi, who received a six-month suspension from the Knesset last summer after saying that the kidnappers of the three murdered Israeli teens were “not terrorists” and for accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dies
(JNS.org) King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 90 after spending several weeks in the hospital with pneumonia. His half-brother, Deputy Prime Minister Salman bin Abdul Aziz, was proclaimed the new king of Saudi Arabia immediately after Abdullah’s death.
“His Highness Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and all members of the family and the nation mourn the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who passed away at exactly 1 a.m. this morning (5 p.m. Thursday EST),” Saudi state television said in a statement.
In 2005, King Abdullah took over the Saudi throne from his brother King Fahd. Since then, he has developed a reputation as a reformer king who wanted his country to develop deeper relations with the international community.
In a statement on Abdullah’s death, U.S. President Barack Obama praised his “steadfast and passionate belief in the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship as a force for stability and security in the Middle East and beyond.”
Republican leaders also praised the late Saudi king. Former President George H.W. Bush called King Abdullah a “wise and reliable ally,” and U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the king “pushed for the modernization of the [Saudi] education system, curbed the authority of the religious police, and extended women the right to vote and run in municipal elections.”
“[Abdullah] was also a vocal advocate for peace, speaking out against violence in the Middle East and standing as a critical partner in the war on terror,” said McCain.
But King Abdullah’s tenure was not without controversy. Women do not have the right to drive a vehicle in Saudi Arabia, and just earlier this week, cell phone footage was released showing the country’s practice of publicly decapitating people as punishment for crimes. Eighty-seven people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2014, mostly through the decapitations, CNN reported.
Saudi Arabia has also been accused of exporting its Wahhabi Islamic philosophy to radical terror groups such as the Islamic State.
“ISIS (Islamic State)… is a product of Saudi ideals, Saudi money, and Saudi organizational support, although now they are making a pretense of being very anti-ISIS. That’s like the parent turning on the wayward or out-of-control child,” former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) said earlier this month, Newsweek reported.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Saudi Arabia blamed Israeli “occupation” for the global rise in anti-Semitism at the first-ever informal United Nations conference addressing anti-Semitism.
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Hillary Clinton supports Obama’s opposition to new Iran sanctions
(JNS.org) Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Canadian audience on Wednesday that she supports President Barack Obama’s threat to veto a new Iran sanctions bill.
“Why do we want to be the catalyst for the collapse of negotiations?” Clinton asked during a speech in Winnipeg, in reference to a bill proposed by U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill).
In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Obama promised to veto a new Iran sanctions bill, saying such legislation would “undo the progress” of the ongoing nuclear talks.
“If we’re the reason—through our Congress—that in effect gives Iran and others the excuse not to continue the negotiations, that would be, in my view, a very serious strategic error,” Clinton said.
Some pro-Israel groups sharply criticized Clinton’s remarks. Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks called Clinton’s foreign policy judgment “clearly lacking” and said that rewarding the Iranian regime with more time is a “catalyst to empower and embolden the Iranian regime further.”
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. The Endowment of Middle East Truth (EMET) said Clinton “fails to grasp the meaning of the Menendez-Kirk legislation.”
“Far from being a diplomatic handicap, the Menendez-Kirk sanctions legislation is a diplomatic guarantor that the negotiations will be a success. … It is patently clear that the bill serves as an incentive for successful negotiations,” said Sarah Stern, president of EMET.
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At U.N. anti-Semitism conference, Saudi Arabia blames Israel for rise in anti-Semitism
(JNS.org) At the first-ever informal United Nations conference addressing anti-Semitism, surprise attendee Saudi Arabia blamed Israeli “occupation” for the global rise in anti-Semitism.
“Colonization and occupation fuels anti-Semitism… occupation is an act of anti-Semitism. It threatens human rights and human kind,” said Saudi Arabian ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi, who spoke on behalf of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Countries.
Al-Mouallimi also condemned all words and acts that lead to “to hatred, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon struck a different tone, arguing that “grievances about Israeli actions must never be used as an excuse to attack Jews.”
Amid the Gaza war last summer, anti-Semitic attacks in Europe and elsewhere in the world rose to their highest levels in decades, with protesters in several countries going as far as calling for Jews to be attacked and even gassed. More recently, four Jewish shoppers were killed in an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris.
“Violent anti-Semitism is casting a shadow over Europe,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor said, calling out other U.N. member countries for their anti-Semitic remarks.
“This summer, disguised as humanitarian concern, delegates have used this podium to commit anti-Semitism, accusing Israel of behaving like Nazis,” Prosor added. “It doesn’t matter how much you’re angered or frustrated by our conflict. There is no excuse for statements like that.”
Germany’s representative at the conference, Michael Roth, echoed this concern, saying that “anti-Semitism is gaining ground in a loud and aggressive manner” and that it poses a threat to European society.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, noting that nearly two-thirds of religion-driven hate crimes in the U.S. target Jews, said the world must take action against “this monstrous global problem.”
“When the human rights of Jews are repressed, the rights of other religious and ethnic groups are often not far behind,” Power said.
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White House: Obama won’t meet with Netanyahu in DC due to Israeli election
(JNS.org) The White House said Thursday that President Barack Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to Washington, DC, in March due to the visit’s close proximity to Israel’s national elections.
“As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country,” Bernadette Meehan, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in statement.
On Thursday, Netanyahu announced his acceptance of an invitation by U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) to address a joint-session of Congress on March 3 regarding Israel’s position on Western negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Netanyahu’s address to Congress comes just two weeks before Israel’s national elections on March 17.
On his visit, Netanyahu will also speak at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Originally, Netanyahu planned to address Congress on Feb. 11, but Boehner adjusted the schedule to accommodate Netanyahu’s AIPAC appearance.
On Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu was a breach of protocol.
“The protocol would suggest that the leader of one country would contact the leader of another country when he’s traveling there. … This particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol,” said Earnest.
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10 Israeli tourists attacked in Argentina hostel
(JNS.org) Ten Israeli tourists were violently assaulted earlier this week in an anti-Semitic attack at a hostel in the Patagonia region of Argentina.
Media reports indicate that the group of backpackers woke up at 1 a.m. Monday due to the sound of a shotgun going off near by. Three men entered the hostel and assaulted the guests with broken bottles, sticks, and Molotov cocktails. They also forced security personnel who arrived at the scene to retreat.
“It was a terrifying moment, several hours of fear,” said Yoav Pollac, the owner of the Onda Azul hostel in Lago Puelo, according to the Argentine newspaper Clarín. “They shouted, ‘Go, f—ing Jews. You f—ing Jews are robbing us in the Patagonia region.’”
Pollac, who told The Guardian that the attackers have not yet been arrested, decided to close the hostel temporarily due to this week’s incident and a previous anti-Semitic incident at the site, posting on the hostel’s Facebook page that “last October they burned down one of our cabins with a Molotov cocktail. I can’t take the risk of one of our guests being killed.”
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Yemenite coup endangers country’s remaining Jews
(JNS.org) Houthi rebel gunmen are holding Yemenite president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi hostage in his own residence while waiting on possible concessions by the government on sharing control of the country’s rule. Meanwhile, a takeover of the capital city of Sanaa by the Shi’ite Muslim rebels could bring problems for the tiny Yemenite Jewish community.
“It is clear they are in danger” due to “religious hate” and “extreme Islam,” University of Haifa professor emeritus Yosef Tobi told the Jerusalem Post.
While there were once more than 50,000 Jews in Yemen, less than 100 remain in the capital city, and a similarly small community exists in the northern town of Raida. Most Yemenite Jews have made aliyah to Israel. Currently, the remaining Sanaa Jewish community already lives in a guarded district protected by the current government. Jews had fled to Saana from the town of Saada due to threats from Houthis in 2007.
In 2008, Yemenite Jewish man Moshe Ya’ish al-Nahari was killed for refusing to convert to Islam. Another Jew in the country, Aharon Zindani, was stabbed in 2012 after being accused of practicing witchcraft.
Last year, supporters of Houthi rebels protested in the streets of Saana chanting, “Death to America! Death to the Jews! Victory to Islam.”
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