Jewish news briefs: August 24, 2015

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Israeli city comes under fire for including Palestinian flag on food festival ad

(JNS.org) An online advertising banner that used the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag to promote an upcoming food festival has caused a stir in southern Israel, prompting the festival’s chief organizer, the Ofakim Municipality, to issue an apology.

The banner appeared on the Israeli municipality’s Facebook page ahead of the Aug. 25-26 event in the city’s local stadium. The PLO flag was displayed along the Israeli, Japanese, and Indian flags, and was ultimately replaced with the French flag.

“Having a government agency hoist this flag is a provocation against the very underpinnings of the state, and to this one might add various criminal aspects,” said Ofakim resident Benny Cohen, Israel Hayom reported.

The Ofakim Municipality later said, “The festival has no culinary connection to Palestinian cuisine, or to political statements of any kind, and its focus is exclusively on food.”

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Israeli Prime Ministers Office: stop irresponsible chatter on national security

(JNS.org) The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday criticized what it called the “irresponsible chatter” about the Jewish state’s strategic policies on Iran, following the leaking of recordings of former Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak commenting on “missed opportunities” to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“It is time to stop this irresponsible chatter on matters of national security,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu continues to ensure the safety and security of the Israeli public in a determined and responsible manner.”

On Friday, recordings aired by Israel’s Channel 2 featured Barak revealing that Netanyahu and former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman had wanted to conduct military operations against Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but were blocked each time.

Barak says in one recording, “Bibi is weak. He doesn’t want to make tough decisions unless someone forces his hand.”

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Report: Israel supporting fight against Islamic State by importing Kurdish oil

(JNS.org) Israel has imported around 75 percent of its oil in recent months from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

The report called the Israeli oil purchases “a vital source of funds” for the Kurdish fight against the Islamic State terror group. Other major purchasers of Kurdish oil include Italy, France, and Greece.

The Kurdish oil trade is conducted through prepaid deals brokered by international companies, such as Vitol and Trafigura. According to shipping data, trading sources, and satellite tanker tracking cited by the report, Israeli refineries and oil companies imported more than 19 million barrels of Kurdish oil between the beginning of May and mid-August this year, with a total value of about $1 billion based on international prices during that period.

The Kurdistan Regional Government, however, said it has not sold oil “directly or indirectly” to Israel.

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Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps plans massive ballistic missile test

(JNS.org) A senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Iran is set to hold a massive ballistic missile test in the near future.

“The IRGC Aerospace Force will hold a large-scale ballistic missiles war-games soon,” Brigadier General Hajizadeh said Friday in the city of Qaemshahr, Fars News Agency reported.

Hajizadeh has previously touted plans to upgrade and replace Iran’s existing Fateh, Qiyam, and Qadr missiles with a new generation of missiles, despite international sanctions on the Iranian missile program.

“We will abolish Fateh 110 missiles (short-range, high-precision ballistic) as well as the mid-range Qiyam (high-precision ballistic) and Qadr (first generation of air-launched precision) missiles to replace them with new missiles,” Hajizadeh said.

Many U.S. lawmakers have criticized the Iran nuclear deal for allowing ballistic missile sanctions to be lifted after eight years of the agreement.

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Marylands Democratic U.S. senators remain undecided on Iran deal

(JNS.org) With Congress in the midst of a 60-day period to review the Iran nuclear deal, two Democratic U.S. senators from Maryland—Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski—remain undecided about the agreement.

While it is expected that virtually all 54 Republicans in the Senate will vote against the Iran deal, 67 anti-deal votes are needed to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a possible Congressional rejection of the pact. The only two Senate Democrats who have publicly come out against the agreement so far are Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (N.J.).

Asked where Cardin stands on the deal, and whether or not his decision will be affected by the recent report that the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog made a side agreement with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to carry out its own inspections at the Parchin nuclear site, Cardin spokesperson Sue Walitsky said the senator “continues to review all aspects of the agreement to determine what decision he’ll make.”

“He continues to study the details of this deal, reach out to experts for answers to his many questions, and engage Marylanders to get their thoughts,” Walitsky told JNS.org. “There is great intensity on all sides of this issue, but the feedback has been decidedly mixed. … He does not plan to rush his decision based on what others may decide.”

When contacted by JNS.org, Mikulski’s office said the senator was traveling and unable to return a request for comment.

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Turkeys Erdogan calls for snap elections following collapse of coalition talks

(JNS.org) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for snap elections on Nov. 1 after the collapse of talks to form a governing coalition.

“We will take our country to elections,” Erdogan told reporters Friday. “God willing, Turkey will have the elections again on November 1.”

Erdogan’s Islamist AKP party failed to win a majority in June’s parliamentary elections for the first time since it came to power 12 years ago, largely due to the surprisingly strong electoral showing of the pro-Kurdish HDP party. AKP failed to form coalition agreement with two nationalist opposition parties, and Erdogan refused to allow the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which came in second in the June elections, to hold their own coalition talks.

Erdogan and his party are known for their anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

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Islamic State destroys ancient Christian monastery in central Syria

(JNS.org) The Islamic State terror group has reportedly destroyed an ancient Christian monastery in central Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the jihadist group bulldozed the Mar Elian monastery in al-Qaryatain, which is located in the Homs province and was recently captured from government forces by Islamic State.

Islamic State has also abducted 110 civilians from al-Qarayatain, including dozens of Christians, and transported them to its stronghold in Raqqa, Syria. The terror group will reportedly make the captured Christians choose between converting to Islam or paying a “jizya” tax.

Over time, Islamic State has made a point of destroying significant cultural and religious artifacts belonging to other civilizations that the terror group has deemed idolatrous and in violation of Islam.

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