Jewish news briefs: April 13, 2015

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Hillary Clinton announces presidential candidacy

(JNS.org) Former U.S. senator, secretary of state, and first lady Hillary Clinton on Sunday announced that she will run for president in 2016. She lost to President Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) welcomed Clinton’s candidacy, saying in a statement that she “not only has been a true and valuable friend to Israel over her long and illustrious career, but also has consistently defended the most vulnerable among us.”

“She stands with the American Jewish community on creating a better path forward for all Americans, protecting civil rights, ensuring marriage equality, and defending the safety and security of the country and all our worldwide allies,” NJDC said.

Clinton has also had notable episodes of tension with Israel. In March 2010, as secretary of state, she devoted a 45-minute phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rebuking him for a decision to move ahead with 1,600 new housing units in eastern Jerusalem. But last year, Clinton wrote in her new memoir, “In retrospect, our early, hard line on settlements didn’t work”—drawing accusations that she was attempting to re-write her history on the issue.

“Clinton today is attempting to recast herself as a more sensitive and evenhanded figure on these matters,” Noah Pollak, executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, wrote for the Weekly Standard at the time. “She would have us believe that her role in the [Obama] administration’s campaign of criticism, pressure, and crisis-creation against Israel was one of reluctant participant… It is very difficult, looking at her record during this period, to conclude that the presentation of her role in her book is accurate.”

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Obamas approval among U.S. Jews down 23 percentage points since 2009

(JNS.org) American Jews’ approval of President Barack Obama has dropped 23 percentage points since 2009, and the gap between Jewish approval and general American approval of Obama—which has been marked by higher Jewish approval—is narrowing, a new Gallup poll found.

The survey revealed that in the first quarter of this year, 54 percent of American Jews approve of Obama’s job performance, compared with 46 percent of all Americans. The gap of eight percentage points between those numbers is lower than what Gallup called a 13-point gap over the course of Obama’s presidency. American Jewish approval of Obama peaked at 77 percent in 2009, according to Gallup’s figures.

The new data comes against the backdrop of skepticism over the recently reached framework nuclear deal between Iran and a group of negotiating partners that includes the Obama administration, as well as the administration’s increased rhetoric against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since he was re-elected last month.

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2,200 runners participate in first International Bible Marathon

(JNS.org) About 2,200 runners participated in Israel’s first annual Bible Marathon on April 9.

The race is run along the path taken a few thousand years ago when a runner known as the “man from Benjamin” ran from Eben Ezer, site of the modern-day city of Rosh Haayin, to ancient Shiloh to inform Eli the priest that the Israelites had lost the battle with the Philistines and that the enemy had seized the Ark of the Covenant.

According to the story, related in 1 Samuel 4:12-13, “Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road eagerly watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.”

While there is no way of knowing precisely where the biblical runner set out, Maccabiah Games founder Yosef Yekutieli measured the approximate distance from Rosh Haayin to Shiloh at 26 miles—the distance of a modern-day marathon.

Ariel Rosenfeld, 41, won the full marathon in a time of 3:30:14.

“We hope that through the marathon, more and more Israelis will learn to know the amazing landscapes and historic stories of the Benjamin region,” said Moshe Rontzki, director of the Tourism Department for the Binyamin Regional Council in Judea and Samaria.

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Barcelona police arrest terrorists who planned to bomb Jewish bookstore

(JNS.org) Spanish authorities have arrested members of an alleged Islamist terror cell on suspicion of trying to obtain explosives and bomb a Jewish bookstore in Barcelona.

The terrorists were also planning to target synagogues and other public buildings, said an investigating magistrate, Reuters reported. Of the 11 people arrested, seven are being formally investigated and are being held in custody until their trials.

Authorities found 25 bags that belonged to the suspects containing trace amounts of chemicals that could be used to make explosives. The leader of the cell, who was one of the suspects detained, said that he had been “about to attack a Jewish bookshop in Barcelona.”

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Survey: strong majority of Americans doubt Irans commitment to nuclear deal

(JNS.org) A strong majority of Americans believe that Iran is not likely to uphold the rules of the framework nuclear agreement announced on April 2, a new survey found.

An NBC News poll, conducted in conjunction with SurveyMonkey, found that 68 percent of 2,052 respondents believe that Iran is either not too likely or not at all likely to abide by the nuclear agreement, compared with 25 percent who said Iran would honor it.

Additionally, the survey found that 53 percent of Americans believe the Iranian nuclear program represents a major threat to the U.S., compared with only 37 percent who consider it a minor threat and 8 percent who said it was no threat at all.

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Potential presidential candidate Scott Walker expects to meet with Netanyahu

(JNS.org) Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said he “absolutely” expects to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Israel next month.

The possible Republican presidential hopeful said that while the meeting has not yet been confirmed, it is his “hope and expectation” that the meeting will happen, the Associated Press reported.

The visit to Israel in May is part of an effort by Walker to increase his foreign policy credentials. The governor left for a visit to Germany, France, and Spain on April 10, prior to traveling to Israel in May, in order to gain a better understanding of the issues facing Israel and the Middle East.

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Israel ranks as third-largest U.S. television content provider

(JNS.org) Israel ranks as the third-largest provider of U.S. television content after the U.K. and the Netherlands, Forbes reported.

Three Israeli companies—Armoza Formats, Keshet Media Group, and Dori Media—have sold the concepts of more than 100 shows to many countries around the world including France, Brazil, Indonesia, and the U.S.

Noa Tishby, a well-known Israeli-American actress and producer, began the trend of selling show concepts abroad by selling the Israeli drama “Be’Tipul” to the HBO network. The American version, “In Treatment,” won two Emmys and a Golden Globe. The show “Homeland,” which stars Claire Danes, is based on the Israeli show “Hatufim.”

“Israeli filmmakers simply learned how to tell a story, as opposed to just making statements, and Hollywood realized that here you have a great pool of talent,” said Consul General of Israel in New York Ido Aharoni.

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Vandals write Jewish pigs on Copenhagen kosher deli

(JNS.org) A kosher deli in Copenhagen, Denmark, was defaced Thursday by vandals who smashed its front window and wrote anti-Semitic messages on its walls, including “Jewish pigs.”

The incident took place two months after a shooting attack in Copenhagen that killed Jewish security guard Dan Uzan, who had been guarding a bat mitzvah ceremony at a synagogue.

“All vandalism is serious, but it is obvious that when it comes to this particular location, there will be an extra focus on it,” police investigator Kenneth Jensen told the Danish newspaper Berlingske.

“This is not the Denmark that I know and admire… Incidents such as these should not happen, and a fundamental change must be made,” Israeli Ambassador to Denmark Baruch Bina told Yedioth Ahronoth.

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U.K. Labour leader Ed Miliband voices support for Palestinian state recognition

(JNS.org) The leader of the British Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said Friday ahead of the U.K.’s May 7 national elections that he would support the recognition of a Palestinian state if that move would help bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Miliband, who is Jewish, referenced in his comments a symbolic vote held in the British parliament last year in favor of such recognition.

“What we said at the time of that vote was that it was a vote about the principle of recognition. And clearly a decision about when recognition would take place was dependent on how it would constructively help negotiations,” he said, Reuters reported.

“I am not going to get into, today, speculation about when that would precisely be. That is a judgment we would have to take at the time,” Miliband added.

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State Department: no sanctions relief without Iran curbing nuclear enrichment

(JNS.org) The U.S. State Department said Thursday that any relief in sanctions on Iran as part of a final nuclear deal will only take place if it is verified that Iran is curbing its enrichment. The American statement came after an Iranian demand to lift all sanctions immediately.

“The process of sanctions suspension or relief will only begin after Iran has completed its major nuclear steps and the breakout time has been increased to at least a year,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said, The Associated Press reported. “That’s consistent with what we said over the last week or so, and that was agreed upon by all the parties in Lausanne.”

Earlier on Thursday, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani demanded that all sanctions against his country be lifted on the first day a final deal is implemented.

“We will not sign any agreement unless all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the first day of the implementation of the deal,” Rouhani said.

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Major jewelry heist in London affects Jewish-owned businesses

(JNS.org) A major safety deposit box heist in London’s Hatton Garden district during the Easter bank holiday weekend, in which nearly $300 million in jewelry and diamonds was stolen, reportedly affected dozens of Jewish-owned businesses.

Thieves ransacked as many as 300 safety deposit boxes on the premises of Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd after getting into the building through the roof. The thieves reportedly rappelled down an elevator shaft and then drilled through a wall to get to the vault door using heavy machinery, London police said.

“A lot of Jews will probably be affected by this—many local businesses keep deposit boxes there,” a local trader who self-identified as Shauli told the London Jewish Chronicle. “There are many Israelis and ultra-Orthodox Hasidic guys who work there, too. I believe there are around 50 or 60 Jewish businesses there.”

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Syria agrees to use military force to expel Islamic State from Palestinian refugee camp

(JNS.org) The Syrian government has agreed to use military force to expel Islamic State terrorists from a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Palestinian Labor Minister Ahmad Majdalani said Thursday.

“We have agreed with the Syrian government on ways to force the terrorist group IS (Islamic State) out of the Yarmouk refugee camp,” Majdalani told Voice of Palestine Radio. “The military solution is the only one to force these terrorists out.”

The Yarmouk refugee camp was recently attacked and taken over by Islamic State terrorists, with at least 18 people killed. The Syrian government, which has been immersed in a civil war since March 2011, has also agreed to provide safe passage to refugees from Yarmouk and to provide them with shelter.

 

Sabra recalls 30,000 hummus cases over Listeria fear

(JNS.org) Approximately 30,000 cases of hummus produced by the popular Sabra brand, 51 percent of which is owned by the Israeli company Strauss, have been recalled due to fears of Listeria contamination.

Inspectors with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) discovered the possible contamination in a routine inspection, according to an MDARD spokeswoman.

Listeria is a food-born illness that can cause high fever and vomiting, and it is especially dangerous to people with weaker immune system, children, and pregnant women. Despite the recall, there have not yet been any reported illnesses from the hummus.

Sabra sells 59 percent of its hummus in the U.S. and is co-owned by PepsiCo.

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20 French mayors to visit Israel for Yom HaShoah

(JNS.org) A delegation of 20 French mayors will visit Israel next week to commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). The mayors all come from towns that have residents  who have been commemorated as Righteous Among the Nations, an honor bestowed by the state of Israel on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

The visiting delegation was organized by the French Yad Vashem Committee and the France-Israel Foundation. On their visit to the Jewish state, the mayors will be welcomed and hosted by the mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, and will meet with the descendants of Holocaust survivors and Righteous Among the Nations. They will also be able to meet with Israeli companies, including in the high-tech sector, that are interested in doing business in France.

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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.

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