After Iranian threat to destroy Israel, Netanyahu urges ‘better deal’ on nukes
(JNS.org) Following an Iranian military official’s reported threat to destroy Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday urged world powers to seek a “better deal” in their nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of Iran’s Basij militia, said “erasing Israel off the map” is “non-negotiable,” Israel Radio reported on Tuesday.
“Yesterday an Iranian general brazenly declared and I quote: ‘Israel’s destruction is non-negotiable,’ but evidently giving Iran’s murderous regime a clear path to the bomb is negotiable,” Netanyahu said. “This is unconscionable. I agree with those who have said that Iran’s claim that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes doesn’t square with Iran’s insistence on keeping underground nuclear facilities, advanced centrifuges, and a heavy-water reactor. Nor does it square with Iran’s insistence on developing ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) and its refusal to come clean with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) on its past weaponization efforts.”
Netanyahu said that the international community, during the current nuclear talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne, should “insist on a better deal” with Iran.
“A better deal would significantly roll back Iran’s nuclear infrastructure,” he said. “A better deal would link the eventual lifting of the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program to a change in Iran’s behavior. Iran must stop its aggression in the region, stop its terrorism throughout the world, and stop its threats to annihilate Israel. That should be non-negotiable and that’s the deal that the world powers must insist upon.”
Obama lifts hold on U.S. military aid to Egypt
(JNS.org) President Barack Obama has lifted the hold on American military aid to Egypt amid growing instability in the Middle East caused by Islamic extremists.
According to the White House, Obama told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in a phone call that the United States will lift restrictions on the delivery of F-16 aircraft, Harpoon missiles, and M1A1 tank kits that were put in place in 2013 following the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Obama also told El-Sisi that he will continue to request the annual $1.3 billion in U.S. military assistance to Egypt.
Obama’s move signals an end to U.S. unease over the military ouster of Morsi, which was in part orchestrated by El-Sisi, who was defense minister at the time, as well as a growing realization of the threats Egypt and other regional allies face from terror groups like the Islamic State.
“These and other steps will help refine our military assistance relationship so that it is better positioned to address the shared challenges to U.S. and Egyptian interests in an unstable region, consistent with the longstanding strategic partnership between our two countries,” the White House said in a statement.
But Obama did reiterate America’s concerns about “Egypt’s continued imprisonment of non-violent activists and mass trials,” and called on El-Sisi to take steps to protect freedom of speech and assembly.
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Hezbollah could fire up to 1,500 rockets per day, Israeli authorities say
(JNS.org) The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah could fire between 1,000 and 1,500 rockets per day in its next full-scale conflict against Israel, according to the latest estimates from the Israeli Home Front Command.
The estimate is part of updated information provided by the Home Front Command in order to assist local authorities to prepare them for a war.
“The scenario we are looking at is not a prediction of what will be. It spells out what we are building up our capabilities against. We believe we can stand up to the challenge,” a source from the Home Front Command said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Home Front Command said northern Israeli towns such as Kiryat Bialik could expect hundreds of civilian injuries, some deaths, and extensive damage to homes and businesses resulting from the rocket assault.
Last summer’s Gaza war saw about 4,500 rockets and other projectiles hit Israel in roughly 50 days of fighting. The Home Front command source noted that Hezbollah has been rapidly upgrading its rocket arsenal for more accurate rockets that can target both military installations and civilian areas.
“Hezbollah is rapidly upgrading its attack capabilities,” said the source, adding, “We are adapting as well, improving the readiness of the home front for the challenge of war.”
Speaking at the Israel Air and Missile Defense Conference in Israel on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces Colonel Aviram Hasson said that Iran is converting the Zilzal unguided rockets into guided M-600 projectiles by upgrading their warheads and shipping them to Hezbollah.
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American-Israeli solar firm awarded grant to build solar field in Burundi
(JNS.org) The American-Israeli firm Gigawatt Global has been awarded a major grant by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to help build Burundi’s first major utility-connected solar field.
The company is planning to build a 7.5-megawatt solar field in Burundi’s Gitega region, which is expected to increase the country’s electricity production by 15 percent, the Jerusalem Post reported. The USTDA grant is part of the U.S. government’s Power Africa Initiative. In total, the firm has received roughly $1 million in U.S. and European grants for the project.
Gigawatt Global is a U.S.-owned Dutch developer that was co-founded by Israeli-American entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz, who also developed Israel’s first grid-connected solar field. The company was nominated for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize by former Member of Knesset Shimon Solomon.
The grant follows the completion of East Africa’s first-ever utility-scale solar field in Rwanda. The $23.7 million, 8.5-megawatt solar field provides roughly 6 percent of Rwanda’s power supply and is set on an Israeli-inspired Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, which is home to orphans of the country’s 1994 genocide.
“Our impact investment model is to strengthen developing nations, both economically and environmentally, by providing renewable energy sources where they are most needed,” Abramowitz said, the Jerusalem Post reported. “We plan to build 1,000 solar megawatts in Africa by 2020, thereby providing electricity to millions of households and institutions that are currently without the most basic of human needs.”
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U.S. citizens who boarded flights when rockets targeted Israeli airport sue Hamas
(JNS.org) Twenty-six U.S. citizens filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in the Department of Justice asking for compensation from the Hamas terrorist group for firing rockets at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport while the plaintiffs were waiting to board flights during last summer’s Gaza war.
According to U.S. law, a person who wages an attack against an international airport in a way that impacts an American citizen could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Israel-based law center Shurat HaDin is leading the lawsuit against several Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal.
“Hamas’s attack on Ben Gurion International Airport was a threat on the lives of American citizens that were at the airport at the time, and therefore the U.S. Attorney General has authority to put on trial those who threatened American citizens in this way,” Shurat HaDin head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner told Israel National News last month.
The landing of a Hamas rocket near Ben Gurion Airport during last summer’s war also resulted in a 36-hour Federal Aviation Administration ban on American carriers’ flights to Israel.
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New Daily Show host Trevor Noah scrutinized for tweets mocking Jews, Israel
(JNS.org) South African comedian Trevor Noah, the newly announced successor to Jon Stewart as host of the satirical television program The Daily Show, has come under the microscope for past social media posts that disparaged Jews, Israel, and women.
Noah, 31, has tweeted about Lionel Messi, a soccer star, “Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn’t go down easy, just like jewish chicks. #ElClasico.”
Other examples of Noah’s controversial tweets relating to Jews and Israel include “South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful,” and “Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn’t look b4 crossing the road, but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car.”
Regarding women, Noah has tweeted, “Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I’m sexy! – fat chicks everywhere,” and “A hot white woman with ass is like a unicorn. Even if you do see one, you’ll probably never get to ride it.”
Stewart, who is Jewish, came under fire in pro-Israel circles last summer for what critics considered to be pro-Hamas bias in his segments on the war in Gaza. On Tuesday, Jewish organizations issued statements that addressed the controversy surrounding Noah’s tweets.
“Trevor Noah, tapped to replace retiring Daily Show host Jon Stewart, has repeatedly tweeted comments that are deeply offensive and highly stereotypical, and his anti-Israel comments even border on incitement. Why does he tweet about Jews so much?” B’nai B’rith International said in a statement.
“Though Jon Stewart has always been quick to note that The Daily Show is meant to provide entertainment more than actual news, political comedy in our culture is often a substitute for news,” B’nai B’rith added. “Studies have shown that a large number of Americans, particularly young Americans, get their news from such programs. The line between satire and hate can be very fine. As a result, the role of the host on this popular program carries significant responsibility.”
Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman said, “We hope [Noah] will not cross the line from legitimate satire into offensiveness with jokes calling up anti-Semitic stereotypes and misogyny. We hope that The Daily Show remains funny and irreverent without trafficking in bigoted jokes at the expense of Jews, other minorities, and women.”
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