Netanyahu to British PM: willing to negotiate with Palestinians ‘immediately’
(JNS.org) At the start of a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is prepared to “immediately” resume direct peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
“I want to say here in 10 Downing Street, and reaffirm again, that I am ready to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinians with no conditions whatsoever to enter negotiations, and I’m willing to do so immediately,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader also emphasized regional security issues.
“The Middle East is disintegrating under the twin forces of militant Islam: the militant Sunnis led by ISIS and the militant Shi’ites led by Iran,” said Netanyahu. “And I believe that we can cooperate in practical ways to roll back the tide of militant Islam both in the Middle East and in Africa altogether.”
Cameron reiterated his belief that Israel has the right to defend itself.
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Temple Mount Islamic groups who harass Jews get banned by Israel
(JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon signed a declaration that outlaws two Islamic organizations whose members have routinely harassed Jewish visitors at the Temple Mount holy site.
The “Mourabitoun” and “Mourabitat” organizations “engage in inciteful and dangerous activity against tourists, visitors, and worshippers at the site, which leads to violence and is liable to injure human life,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a media advisory.
“The aforesaid organizations strive to undermine Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount, change the existing reality and arrangements at the site, and infringe on freedom of worship. They are linked to—and frequently guided by—hostile Islamic organizations,” said the ministry.
Israel took control of the eastern half of Jerusalem, including the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, from Jordan during the Six-Day War. Since then, the Temple Mount has been administered by the Jordanian-run Islamic Waqf, with security provided by Israeli police. The Waqf limits Jewish access to the Temple Mount to certain days and times of the week and bans any Jewish prayer on the site.
Over the past year, tensions have grown over the Temple Mount, with many Jewish activists calling for changes to allow them greater access there. But Israel’s leadership has been resistant to changing the status quo out of fear that such a move could ignite further Palestinian violence.
“The State of Israel allows freedom of worship to all its citizens, tourists, and visitors regardless of their religion and holds this to be an important and essential basic value,” Ya’alon said.
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New app lets users demand halt to Iranian funding with one click
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A new mobile app from the Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center allows users to reach out to members of the U.S. Congress via Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter with a single click in order to demand that American lawmakers halt the flow of up to $150 billion in sanctions relief to Iran through the nuclear deal.
The smartphone initiative is part of an online campaign launched by Shurat HaDin that has already garnered half a million views on Facebook and YouTube. The campaign is based on a video clip in which terrorists ask the American public to approve the nuclear deal so that Iran can receive the windfall of unfrozen funds to support the execution of terrorist attacks.
Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the head of Shurat HaDin, said that “every citizen of Israel, the United States, and the countries of the free world should open the app and demand that the senators not transfer the promised billions to Iran.”
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Trump, Cruz lambast Iran deal at rally as Khamenei bashes Israel and U.S.
(JNS.org) Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized the Iran nuclear deal at the “Stop the Iran Deal Rally,” hosted by the Tea Party Patriots on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The rally was held just as Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released new comments on Twitter bashing Israel and the U.S.
“We are led by very, very stupid people,” said Trump, who is currently the leading GOP candidate in the polls. He called the deal “incompetent.”
Trump also pointed to new comments made Wednesday by Khamenei, who posted on Twitter that Israel “will not see next 25 years.”
The tweet included a photo showing the ayatollah apparently walking on a sidewalk painted as the Israel flag, with a quote from an earlier speech by the leader that “God willing, there will be nothing as Zionist regime by next 25 years. Secondly, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists.”
Khamenei also retweeted the frequent Iranian reference to the U.S. as the “Great Satan.”
“We would negotiate and reach agreement in different levels of ‘state, religion or ethnic groups’ with all countries but the Great Satan,” Khamenei tweeted.
“Our president is calling the person who is really the boss in Iran ‘Supreme Leader,’” Trump said at the rally.
“It just came out a little while ago, he said Israel will not exist in 25 years…He also said very very strongly that this is the end of our dealings with the United States…So, they rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools, and now theyre back to being who they are. They don’t want Israel to survive…with incompetent leadership like we have right now, Israel will NOT survive,” he said.
In his own speech at the rally, Cruz said that supporters of the Iran nuclear deal will not be able to “wash” blood off their hands as a result of the consequences of the accord, which critics say will enable Iran to use sanctions relief to sponsor terrorism across the Middle East.
“Any commander-in-chief worthy of defending this nation should be prepared to stand up on Jan. 20, 2017, and rip to shreds this catastrophic deal,” Cruz said.
Cruz called the deal “the single greatest national security threat facing America.”
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Israeli man killed in Nigeria in reported kidnapping attempt
(JNS.org) An Israeli businessman died in Nigeria while trying to flee a robbery.
Robbers reportedly tried to kidnap 42-year-old Nir Rosmarin, who was working in the African country for a construction firm, for ransom. Initial reports indicate that Rosmarin was shot as he was escaping the assailants.
“[Rosmarin] was a dear friend of ours” and “a dear friend of the Chabad center and a dear friend of many others,” said Rabbi Israel Uzan, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Nigeria, Chabad.orgreported.
Efforts are reportedly being made to bring Rosmarin’s body back to Israel for burial.
“Judaism places a premium on respecting those of us who are most vulnerable, those who are no longer alive. As the home to the Godly soul, which is literally a part of God, we believe that the body must be accorded the highest form of dignity,” Uzan said.
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Unprecedented sandstorm could blanket Israel through Rosh Hashanah
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) After meteorological reports on Tuesday confirmed that Israel is in the grips of a sandstorm of unprecedented scale, new forecasts on Wednesday show that the storm may not clear until Rosh Hashanah.
Major sandstorms are typical in the spring, but on Tuesday, Israel and its neighboring nations woke up to the heaviest September sandstorm in 15 years. In fact, according to the Israel Meteorological Service, such high levels of sand have not been noted in the 75 years since the weather has been officially recorded.
Naturally, air pollution levels soared. Jerusalem had the dubious honor of registering the worst air quality in the nation, with pollution levels 173 times higher than average. Afula in northern Israel had air 60 times more polluted than average, while Eilat saw levels that were 33 times higher.
The thick sand, which began as a storm in Syria, came hand in hand with oppressive temperatures. A heat wave hovered over the hillier regions and central Israel, and the coast was hot and steamy, with humidity of over 85 percent.
The weather conditions caused hundreds of cases of respiratory difficulty. Magen David Adom paramedics treated 255 people who had trouble breathing, while the emergency room at Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed treated more than 30 patients for respiratory trouble. The emergency room at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot also treated 20 percent more patients than usual for breathing difficulties.
The weather also caused local flight disruptions. Israeli airlines announced that all Tuesday morning flights had been canceled because of the dust, and some flights continue to be cancelled on Wednesday as well.
Eitan Mazeh, a weather quality forecaster in the Environmental Protective Minister, told Yedioth Ahronoth that improvement in the air quality will be slow.
“This started in northeast Syria. Strong winds created massive dust clouds and the air flow was in our direction. These are enormous dust clouds. Now we’re expecting a very slow decline of these dust concentrations because the winds are not changing radically,” he said.
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Russia confirms troop deployment in Syria
(JNS.org) Russia has confirmed that it has deployed its military forces in Syria, in the first such official confirmation from Russia after weeks of reports that Moscow had been growing its forces there.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russia Foreign Ministry, confirmed to Reuters that “experts” were assisting with Russia arms deliveries to Syria, which Moscow says are for “combating terrorism.”
Additionally, a Lebanese source familiar with the situation in Syria told Reuters that the Russians “are taking part in military operations. It is more than an advisory role.”
Russia has been a longtime ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has consistently complicated efforts by Western powers to remove Assad from power and forge a diplomatic solution to the long-running Syrian civil war. Over the last several months, Syrian government forces have had a number of major setbacks in their fight against rebel forces, including the Islamic State terror group. Russia also operates a major naval base in Latakia, Syria.
Last weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and warned him that Russia’s actions could “further escalate the conflict” and “risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL (Islamic State) Coalition operating in Syria.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. moved to block the Russia military buildup in Syria by asking Greece and Bulgaria to close their airspace to Russia military transport planes over fears of the Russian buildup, the New York Times reported.
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Netanyahu greeted by anti-Israel protests upon visit to U.K.
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was greeted with large protests outside the residence of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s ahead of the former’s U.K. visit on Wednesday, in a possible sign of the increasing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views in the European nation.
Around 400 protesters gathered outside of 10 Downing Street to protest the visit by Netanyahu, who met with Cameron on Thursday, AFP reported.
Some of the protesters called for Netanyahu’s arrest, while others called him a “war criminal.” Others waved flags, including at least two flags of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. The protests were countered by at least 100 pro-Israel supporters.
Meanwhile, more than 108,000 people have so far signed a petition urging that Netanyahu be arrested in the U.K. for war crimes, which is enough for the issue to be considered for a debate in the British Parliament. The Israeli embassy called the petition a “meaninglessly publicity stunt.”
Ahead of his visit to the U.K., Netanyahu urged European leaders to partner with Israel in confronting the “mediaevalism” of militant Islam rather than criticizing Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.
“We’re challenged by the opposite of modernity, which is a barbaric mediaevalism, early mediaevalism, primitive, savage, murderous, that comes from the two sources of militant Islam,” Netanyahu said, referring to Islamic extremists in both Sunni and Shi’a Islam.
“Europe should support Israel—not pressure Israel, not attack Israel, but support Israel, which is the only real shield that Europe and the Middle East have against extremist Islam, which is surging,” he added.
The visit by Netanyahu also comes amid fears by the British Jewish community over the likely election of hard-left MP Jeremy Corbyn as the new leader of the Labour Party and thereby opposition leader. According to an August poll by London’s Jewish Chronicle, nearly seven in 10 British Jews are concerned about Corbyn due to his views on Hamas and Hezbollah, which he referred to as “our friends,” as well as his association with a noted Holocaust denier Paul Eisen.
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Israel officially reopens embassy in Egypt after four years
(JNS.org) Israel on Wednesday officially reopened its embassy in Egypt exactly four years after a mob ransacked the building and forced its closure.
The delegation to reopen the embassy was led by Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold, who was joined by other senior Foreign Ministry officials, embassy staff, and Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Haim Koren.
As part of the ceremony, Gold put up a mezuzah on the embassy’s entrance, while the Israeli flag was raised and officials gave speeches.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, we managed to thwart off the threats and we are working together towards stability and prosperity in the Middle East,” Gold said.
“Egypt would always be the biggest and most important country in our region, and there is no wonder it is customary in the Arab world to call it ‘Om El Donya’—‘Mother of the World,’” he said, adding, “We are coming on Rosh Hashanah, a time of new beginnings, and this event in Cairo is also a new beginning.”
Israel closed its Cairo embassy in September 2011, during the Egyptian presidency of former Muslim Brother leader Mohammed Morsi, when it was overrun by thousands of protesters who breached the outer wall and forced embassy staffers into a safe room. The staff was eventually rescued by Egyptian commandos after an intervention by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Since El-Sisi took office in 2014, official relations between Cairo and Jerusalem have improved.
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