Netanyahu slams U.N. ‘hypocrisy’ after Ban Ki-moon criticizes Gaza operation
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “dark day” for the United Nations following U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s criticism of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas terrorist group.
During a U.N. Security Council meeting on Thursday relating to a report expressing concern for the welfare of children in war zones, Ban lamented the suffering of “so many children” due to “Israeli military operations in Gaza last year.” Ban called on Israel to review “existing policies and practices” to prevent the killing and maiming of children.
“The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of the impact on children in 2014 raises grave concerns about Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law… [and] excessive use of force,” he said.
Responding to the U.N. leader, Netanyahu said Friday on Facebook, “This is a dark day for the U.N. Instead of highlighting the fact that Hamas made hostages of Gaza’s children when it fired at Israel from preschools, the U.N. has again chosen to reproach Israel, which held itself to the highest moral standards in combat, as was determined just this past week by a group of senior American and European generals.”
“At the same time, Hamas—a terror organization—is awarded immunity by the U.N., even though it has been proven beyond any doubt that it committed war crimes by firing from hospitals, mosques and from within U.N. facilities. It turns out there is no limit to hypocrisy,” Netanyahu added.
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New Israeli bill seeks to deny state funding for pro-boycott politicians
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A new bill introduced by Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Member of Knesset Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday seeks to deny political parties public funding if their members support the boycotting of Israel or its products.
Lieberman said the measure was designed to counter a recent proposal sponsored by the Meretz and Joint Arab List parties, which seeks to label products manufactured by Judea and Samaria communities. His move came just days after MK Basel Ghattas (Joint Arab List) voiced support for boycott efforts against Israel.
Under Israeli law, parties can choose to have their general election campaigns publicly funded, provided they passed the electoral threshold in the previous election. Parties also receive partial state funding for their ongoing parliamentary activities, which is determined by their size.
“Various countries and anti-Israel organizations are engaged in an effort to boycott Israel, impose sanctions on it and target it financially,” reads the preamble to Lieberman’s bill.
“Meanwhile, some parties and Knesset factions have endorsed such measures or actively promoted them. There is no doubt that calling for the boycott of Israel and the maligning of its citizens inside our legislative body is much worse [than other such calls]. Similarly, the damage inflicted is much greater. Having Israelis fund, through their tax shekels, those who want to compromise their livelihood and hurt the economy makes no sense whatsoever,” the bill says.
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Sen. Ted Cruz slams State Department for delaying Iran human rights report
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Thursday that the Obama administration’s State Department is illegally delaying the publication of a report on human rights violations in Iran, and called on the agency to be fined.
The report was scheduled to be published by Feb. 25, but U.S. sources said it has been bottled to avoid adversely affecting world powers’ negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, which have a June 30 deadline for a deal.
In a Washington Post op-ed, Cruz wrote that in May, he and five other senators wrote to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, asking for information about the delay. According to Cruz, the department replied in a letter dated June 9 that the report had been held back because of Kerry’s travel schedule, noting that “the secretary’s participation in the rollout [of the report], even if it must be delayed by his travel, elevates the report.”
Cruz wrote that “the issue of Iran’s abysmal human rights record is inextricably intertwined with its nuclear ambitions.”
“The State Department… must respect the law, and Congress owes it to the American people to gather all relevant information before it casts what may well be the most significant vote of this legislative session,” he wrote.
Cruz plans to file legislation that would fine the State Department 5 percent of its operating budget for every 30 days the publication of the report is delayed.
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Michael Douglas receives Genesis Prize, says he is ‘proud to be a Jew’
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Actor, producer, and humanitarian activist Michael Douglas received the Genesis Prize from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony held in Jerusalem on Thursday.
The ceremony, hosted by former television talk show host Jay Leno, was attended by Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, Douglas’s wife actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, Genesis Prize Foundation CEO Stan Polovets, and cultural and government figures from Israel and abroad.
The award, which doubled to $2 million thanks to a donation from billionaire philanthropist Roman Abramovich, was given to Douglas for his professional accomplishments and his commitment to the Jewish legacy and to Israel. The award will be dedicated to promoting awareness on the importance of openness and diversity in the Jewish world.
“We have succeeded in maintaining our values and democracy in the only Jewish country in the world,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is being unjustly criticized, but those days when Jews kept their heads down are long gone. Today we have the ability to resist.”
After being greeted with loud applause, Douglas said, “It feels good to be at home again. I am proud to be a Jew.”
Douglas, who was not raised with any religious affiliation, is the son of Jewish Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas. In recent years, the younger Douglas has identified as a Reform Jew, and his son Dylan celebrated a bar mitzvah in Jerusalem last year.
Earlier this week, Douglas expressed concern about the growing danger of nuclear weapons and the threat of boycotts targeting Israel during an address to hundreds of young Jewish leaders at the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv.
“I am a U.N. ambassador for peace and I would like to say that from my experience the biggest problem in the world are nuclear weapons,” Douglas said.
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Swedish supermarket chain cancels boycott of Israeli products
(JNS.org) COOP, a national supermarket chain in Sweden, has backed out of a planned boycott of the sale of Israeli products.
Several months ago, a pro-Palestinian proposal to boycott Israeli products was accepted by a majority vote in a local consumers’ assembly. But Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Isaac Bachman, along with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, were able to get the supermarket chain to cancel the boycott.
“We didn’t talk about the righteousness of Israel, rather we spoke in the name of fair trade and avoiding discrimination of any state,” Bachman said, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
A grassroots effort by pro-Israel activists on Swedish social media had urged the cancellation of the boycott, while the country’s Israeli embassy published the contact information of the supermarket chain’s executives, encouraging the public to contact them and voice their opposition to the planned boycott. Thousands of people threatened to boycott the COOP if it went through with the boycott of Israel.
“There was a great protest. A lot of people here are against boycotts,” Bachman said. The supermarket’s executives “were shocked by the volume of messages they received,” which led them to make the decision to cancel the boycott, he added.
“The lesson I learned is that we must not, under absolutely no circumstances, give up, and we must launch a counter-campaign,” Bachman added. “If you go for the consumer side, without getting into the issue of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, your story would be better and stronger.”
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New York State Assembly passes anti-BDS resolution
(JNS.org) The New York State Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution rejecting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, becoming the latest state government to do so.
The resolution, which was introduced by Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley (D-Brooklyn) and was co-sponsored by 74 other members, rejects BDS activities that “undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution and the right of Israelis and Palestinians to self-determination.”
“This Legislative Body is concerned that the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and its agenda are damaging to the causes of peace, justice, equality, democracy, and human rights for all peoples in the Middle East,” the resolution says.
The resolution also recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and says the U.S. and Israel share “a common bond rooted in the values of freedom, democracy, and equal rights.”
The New York resolution follows anti-BDS measures in several other states, most recently in Illinois, which prohibited state pension funds from including in their portfolios companies that participate in the BDS movement. State legislatures in Indiana and Tennessee also recently passed resolutions condemning BDS, but those measures were non-binding, as opposed to the Illinois bill’s specific economic action.
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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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