Jewish news briefs, April 22, 2015

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At 67th birthday, Israel’s population stands at 8.345 million
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics published new figures ahead of Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) showing that the country’s population stands at 8,345,000, about 10.4 times greater than the population of 806,000 when the Jewish state was founded in 1948.

Jewish residents number 6,251,000, comprising 74.9 percent of the population. The Arab population, which stands at 1,730,000, represents 20.7 percent of the general public. Non-Arab Christians, members of other religions, and new immigrants—who according to the population registry are not part of any religious group—comprise 364,000 people (4.4 percent).

Israel’s population grew by 162,000—2 percent—since last year’s Independence Day. A record 176,000 babies were born during that period, and 44,000 residents died. Some 32,000 people made aliyah since the last Yom Ha’atzmaut.
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Israel sentences Iranian spy to 7 years in prison
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s Central District Court on Tuesday sentenced Iranian-Belgian national Ali Mansouri to seven years in prison for espionage, as part of a plea bargain reached with the State Attorney’s Office.

The 55-year-old Mansouri, who received Belgian citizenship in 2006 and subsequently changed his name to Alex Mans, was arrested while trying to leave Israel in September 2013. During his interrogation, Mansouri admitted he was recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was instructed to use his Belgian identity to forge business contacts in Israel, to serve as a cover for diverse intelligence gathering.

The defense claimed Mansouri’s actions were coerced, as several members of his family were held by the IRGC, which threatened to harm them unless he agreed to cooperate. Mansouri admitted he was also promised $1 million for his cooperation.

According to the indictment, Mansouri visited Israel three times. He documented the layout of Ben Gurion International Airport, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, and a secret military facility.
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Israel’s Teva seeks to acquire drug manufacturer Mylan for $40 billion
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva has made a $40 billion offer for the drug manufacturer Mylan N.V. If the acquisition goes through, it will be the largest Israeli business deal ever.

The two companies would have a combined 400 short-listed drug requests with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and another 80 submitted for the first time. According to estimates, the acquisition would allow Teva to eliminate some of the rising competition for the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, because Mylan has developed a rival version of Teva’s successful medication.

The companies’ combined revenue would comprise some $30 billion annually, and their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization would stand at some $9 billion per year. Teva estimates that the deal could save both companies $2 billion per year through efficiency measures and tax benefits.

Teva CEO Erez Vigodman said he was certain that a merger would provide “strategic and financial advantages for both companies.” But Mylan expressed reluctance to go through with the deal, saying in a press release that it has examined the proposal and believes “it is clear that such a combination is without sound industrial logic or cultural fit.”
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Tennessee General Assembly becomes first state legislature to condemn BDS
(By Sean Savage/JNS.org) The Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday became the first state legislature in the U.S. to formally condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

Senate Joint Resolution 170, initially passed April 9 by the Tennessee Senate in a unanimous 30-0 vote, was approved by the Tennessee House of Representatives in an overwhelming 93-1 vote on Tuesday, with Democratic State Representative G.A. Hardaway the lone dissenter.

The resolution, which is expected to be signed next week by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, declares that the BDS movement is “one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-Semitism and advocating the elimination of the Jewish state,” adding that BDS activities in Tennessee “undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, which they are fulfilling in the State of Israel.”

Furthermore, the resolution states that the BDS movement and its agenda are “inherently antithetical and deeply damaging to the causes of peace, justice, equality, democracy and human rights for all the peoples in the Middle East.”

The bill was initiated by Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder of the Christian Zionist group Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN). Cardoza-Moore worked local Jewish and Christian organizations to bring the resolution to the state legislature.

“With the current climate of increasing anti-Semitism, anti-Israel, and anti-Zionist campaigns, Tennesseans and all people of conscience should endorse public statements of support for our Jewish brethren living in Tennessee and pro-Israel students attending colleges and universities in our state,” Cardoza-Moore said.

According to a PJTN press release, “BDS has an active presence in Tennessee, particularly through The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a group that is a leader of BDS. UT (University of Tennessee) Knoxville alumnus Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, a leader in the U.S. Campaign, was this year’s keynote speaker at the national meeting of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a college campus group that has spearheaded anti-Israel demonstrations.”

Tennessee State Senator Dolores Gresham, who co-sponsored the resolution along with State Representative Sheila Butt, said the state’s legislature “chooses to preserve its values by publicly condemning this blatantly anti-Semitic, anti-Israel bigotry, and send a clear message that Tennessee condemns such views.”

Joanne Bregman, a local Jewish activist and attorney who advocated for the resolution’s passage, told JNS.org that the Tennessee General Assembly’s action could serve as a template for other U.S. states to recognize the growing threats of the BDS movement and anti-Semitism. She added that the Christian-initiated bill should be a “wake-up call” for the Jewish community to be the ones “who need to fill the public information void” on BDS and anti-Semitism.
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Iran won’t allow IAEA to re-inspect Parchin military base
(JNS.org) Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesperson for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said the Islamic Republic will not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog to inspect its Parchin military base for a second time.

“They (the IAEA) have been raising the issue for years. It is important for their propaganda. They know we will not allow them to visit the Parchin base again, but they think raising the issue benefits the propaganda,” Kamalvandi said at a news conference in Tehran,Reuters reported.

The West has suspected Iran of using the Parchin base for nuclear weapons research, while Iran claims Parchin is an ordinary military base that is not involved in nuclear research.

“In a meeting between [Iranian] President [Hassan] Rouhani and [IAEA chief] Yukiya Amano, President Rouhani reminded him that, ‘When you requested to visit the facilities in Parchin for the first time, I said yes, you can go to Parchin and everywhere else, and you can collect samples. But it can be allowed just for once as it is a military base. A second visit will not happen,’” said Kamalvandi.

The remarks come shortly after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that America is responsible for creating the “myth” of Iran’s nuclear weapons in order to portray the country as a threat.
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Israel has one of least religious populations in the world, poll finds
(JNS.org) While often gaining international headlines for its religious disputes, Israelis are among the world’s least religious people, a new survey has found.

In a poll conducted by WIN/Gallup, 65 percent of Israeli respondents said they are “either not religious or convinced atheists,” compared to just 30 percent who consider themselves religious.

Israel stands in stark contrast with the rest of the Middle East on religiosity. The poll found that the Middle East and Africa are the most religious regions of the world, including 75 percent of respondents in the disputed Palestinian territories saying that they are religious compared to 18 percent who said they are not. Israel is more aligned with many countries in Western Europe, where more than half of respondents in the poll said they are not religious.

Overall, the poll found that most of the world remains deeply connected to religion, with 63 percent of respondents considering themselves to be religious.

“Religion continues to dominate our everyday lives and we see that the total number of people who consider themselves to be religious is actually relatively high,” said Jean-Marc Leger, president of the WIN/Gallup International Association. “Furthermore, with the trend of an increasingly religious youth globally, we can assume that the number of people who consider themselves religious will only continue to increase.”
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More than 100 U.S. campuses marking Israel’s Independence Day
(JNS.org) As Israel celebrates its 67th birthday with Wednesday’s Independence Day, students and faculty members across more than 100 American college campuses are marking the day known in Hebrew as Yom Ha’atzmaut.

According to a recent report by the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), despite the growth of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel on university campuses, there is still a significant amount of support for Israel on campus.

“The diversity of the students and campuses holding Israel Independence Day events this year only solidifies what our research has been saying for months—pro-Israel students will not allow the hatred of anti-Israel activists to divide their campuses,” said ICC Executive Director Jacob Baime. “These students, backed by a strong coalition of national organizations, faculty, and alumni, are enlarging the pro-Israel movement’s campus footprint every day.”

Israel Independence Day events are being sponsored by Jewish and pro-Israel organizations including the ICC, Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, A Wider Bridge, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Chabad on Campus International, Christians United for Israel, The David Project, Hasbara Fellowships, Hillel International, Jewish National Fund, Jerusalem U, and StandWithUs.

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Israel remembers fallen soldiers and terror victims on Yom Hazikaron
(JNS.org) Israel marked its annual memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks (known in Hebrew as Yom Hazikaron) at sundown on Tuesday, a day before the country’s 67th Independence Day.

As part of national commemorations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein participated in a ceremony at Yad LaBanim, the association for families of fallen soldiers, in Jerusalem.

“I know your pain and I feel your longing. Thirty-nine years after my brother fell, the grief has not subsided,” Netanyahu told the bereaved Israeli families in attendance, referencing his brother Yonatan, who was killed during the Entebbe hostage operation in 1976.

“The grief did not subside in my parents—may they rest in peace—until their final day,” said Netanyahu,Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Israel has lost 23,320 soldiers and victims of terror since its founding, including 116 since last year’s Yom Hazikaron. Sixty-seven soldiers were killed during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza last summer, and 35 additional soldiers died over the past year due to injuries, the Israeli Defense Ministry said. In addition to various commemoration ceremonies, country-wide sirens calling for moments of silence sounded at 8 p.m. Israel time on Tuesday and 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

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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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