Jewish news briefs: April 17, 2015

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Obama condemns anti-Semitism on Holocaust Remembrance Day
(JNS.org) U.S. President Barack Obama condemned anti-Semitism in a message on Thursday to mark Israel’s Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) as well as the international commemorations of the end of the Holocaust and the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

“It is incumbent upon us to make real those timeless words, ‘Never forget. Never again.’ Yet, even as we recognize that mankind is capable of unspeakable acts of evil, we also draw strength from the survivors, the liberators, and the righteous among nations who represented humanity at its best,” Obama said in a statement.

“With their example to guide us, together we must firmly and forcefully condemn the anti-Semitism that is still far too common today. Together we must stand against bigotry and hatred in all their forms. And together, we can leave our children a world that is more just, more free, and more secure for all humankind,” he said.

A report released Wednesday by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University showed a 38-percent rise in violent anti-Semitic attacks in Europe from 2013 to 2014.
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Actress Moran Atias to represent Israel at world expo in Italy
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli actress, model, and television hostess Moran Atias was selected to represent Israel at Expo Milano 2015, the upcoming world’s fair set to begin in the Italian city of Milan on May 1.

Atias, who has worked extensively in Italy, is expected to participate in the opening ceremony and other important events at the expo’s Israeli pavilion. Israeli musician Ivri Lider was chosen to compose the original music to be presented at the fair.

The expo, which will be open for five months, is the largest current world’s fair and has taken place once every five years for the last 150 years. The theme for this year’s fair is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.”

At the last expo, in 2010 in Shanghai, some 3 million people visited the Israeli pavilion. This year, organizers expect 140 countries and international organizations, including the United Nations, to participate, along with some 20 million visitors. The Israeli pavilion will present Israel’s unique culture and character, while focusing on its technological advances in farming.
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Hamas leader calls for more kidnappings of Israelis
(JNS.org) A Hamas terrorist leader called for more kidnappings of Israelis in order to facilitate the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Speaking at a rally on the so-called “Palestinian Prisoner Day” in Gaza, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said that “we will fight you (Israel) until we get rid of you for good and we will take as many prisoners as possible to liberate our heroes… Our men, our women, our children always think of kidnapping your soldiers and settlers, wherever they may be,” AFP reported.

“We say to our prisoners, rest assured! For the Palestinian resistance, with the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades at the front line, can liberate you like they liberated your brothers” in 2011, added Haya, referencing Israel’s exchange of more than 1,000 prisoners for Hamas captive Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier abducted in 2006 via a tunnel underneath the Israel-Gaza border.

According to the Times of Israel, Hamas has accelerated its rebuilding of terror tunnels underneath that border using heavy machinery and new engineering tools. Last summer, Israel launched a ground operation as part of Operation Protective Edge in order to destroy the Hamas tunnels. A report earlier this month in The Telegraph said that Hamas has received tens of millions of dollars from Iran in order to rebuild its tunnel infrastructure and rocket arsenal.
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16 EU ministers endorse ‘Made in the West Bank’ label for Israeli products
(JNS.org) Sixteen European Union (EU) foreign ministers have signed a letter calling on the EU’s foreign policy chief to label Israeli products made beyond the 1949 armistice line as “Made in the West Bank.”

In the letter to EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, the foreign ministers said that the proposal would help consumers from being “misled by false information.”

“European consumers must indeed have confidence in knowing the origin of goods they are purchasing,” the ministers wrote. “Green Line Israel and Palestinian producers will benefit from this.”

The initiative was led by Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders and was supported by ministers from the U.K., France, Spain, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Italy, Luxembourg, Finland, and Austria.

EU ministers from a number of strong Israeli allies, mainly in Eastern Europe—including Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Cypress, Romania—did not sign the letter.

The letter cites a previous one advocating the same labeling measure that was sent to Mogherini’s predecessor, Catherine Ashton, in 2013. At the time, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ashton to put the initiative on hold while he pursued peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
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Russia’s Putin: Iranian behavior in nuclear talks influenced missile deal
(JNS.org) Russian President Vladimir Putin cited Iran’s “positive” behavior and “flexibility” during the nuclear talks with world powers as playing a role in his decision to renew a contract to deliver the advanced S-300 missile defense system to the Islamic Republic.

“And now with the progress of the Iranian nuclear track—and that is obviously positive—we do not see any reason to continue to keep the ban (on the delivery of the S-300) unilaterally,” Putin said in an annual televised call-in show, Reuters reported.

Putin also insisted that the missile defense system would not pose a threat to Israel. The Jewish state, which has been highly critical of the recently reached framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, fears that the deal will allow Iran to assert more regional dominance by supporting terrorist groups like Hezbollah that pose a direct threat to Israel.

“After this arms deal [for the S-300], is there anyone who can seriously claim that the [framework] agreement with Iran will increase the security in the Middle East?” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week.

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Israel’s Elbit creates system to detect terror tunnels
(JNS.org) An Israel-based international defense electronics firm announced that it has created a system to detect terror tunnels that run under the Israel-Gaza border.

Elbit Systems developed the new tunnel-detection system together with the Israeli Defense Ministry and other partners in Israel. The system includes a series of sensors that receive information. This information is then analyzed through a control system of algorithms, which allows for identifying the construction of tunnels and their locations.

The system is already operational along parts of the Israel-Gaza border, but its wider implementation is awaiting security and budgetary approval.

“The tunnel threat for us is a threat on the community’s morale. Because of the nature of its danger, the surprise factor and the inability to defend oneself, it truly constitutes a personal threat,” said Amit Caspi from Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, which was directly threatened by Hamas tunnels during Israel’s war with the Palestinian terrorist group last summer.

“I have no doubt that this will improve the morale and lives of all the residents of the Gaza border community. I hope it will help to save lives and of course to improve our day-to-day routine here,” he added, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
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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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