At White House, Netanyahu and Obama seek to overcome Iran differences
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met at the White House on Monday for the first time in more than a year in a bid to put aside past differences over Iran’s nuclear program and advance peace in the region.
“This is going to be an opportunity for the prime minister and myself to engage in a wide-ranging discussion on some of the most pressing security issues that both our countries face,” Obama said before the meeting. “It’s no secret that the security environment in the Middle East has deteriorated in many areas, and as I’ve said repeatedly, the security of Israel is one of my top foreign policy priorities. And that’s expressed itself not only in words, but in deeds.”
According to the White House, the two leaders planned to tackle regional security issues, including the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, how to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and countering Tehran’s destabilizing activities.
A top goal for Netanyahu is securing a new military aid package for Israel. The current deal between Israel and the U.S., which provides $3 billion annually to Israel, is set to expire in 2017. The two sides had been negotiating a new deal last summer, but negotiations were halted following the Iran nuclear deal in July. Recent reports indicate that Israel is seeking as much as $5 billion annually in a new defense deal.
At Monday’s meeting, Obama referenced the differences over the Iran nuclear deal with Netanyahu, but said that both leaders are committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Netanyahu thanked Obama for his commitment to Israel’s security.
Obama condemned the recent wave of terrorism in Israel, saying that it is his “strong belief that Israel has not just the right, but the obligation to protect itself.”
Netanyahu assured Obama that he remains committed to see “two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes a Jewish state.”
*
Report: Obama will not let Jonathan Pollard leave U.S. for Israel
(JNS.org) President Barack Obama will not intervene to allow Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to travel to Israel after his scheduled parole from federal prison next week, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing Obama administration officials.
The terms of Pollard’s release stipulate that he remain in the United States, under supervision, for five years. Obama has the ability to use his executive power to waive that condition and allow Pollard to leave the U.S., but he will not do so, the report said.
Last week, top Obama adviser Ben Rhodes said, “President Obama has not intervened in the judicial process here in the United States, and that’s been his consistent approach. With respect to the case of Jonathan Pollard, he’s made clear that he wants there to be fair treatment under the law, as there should be with any individual.”
Pollard, 61, has spent nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel. He was arrested in Washington in 1985 and sentenced to a life term in 1987. An American Jew, Pollard was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995. His upcoming parole, scheduled for Nov. 21, was announced in July.
*
Israeli opposition leader: on issue of Israel’s security, ‘there is no opposition’
(JNS.org) “When it comes to Israel’s security, there is no opposition,” Israeli opposition leader Member of Knesset Isaac Herzog (Labor) said Monday at the General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of the North America (JFNA).
“We will always support, as a position, whatever it takes to foster Israel’s security and qualitative [military] edge,” he said.
Herzog said regarding Monday’s meeting at the White House between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, “I sincerely hope that what comes out of the meeting has to do first and foremost with strengthening and fostering Israel’s security.”
The opposition leader expressed hope that the “vociferous debate” on the Iranian nuclear issue between the Israeli government and the Obama administration “is behind us.”
“I think we must go back, we must return to intimate relationships between the Oval Office and the Prime Minister’s Office,” said Herzog.
After Netanyahu said he supports a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians in public comments before his meeting with Obama, Herzog told the JFNA conference that he hopes the prime minister’s words will translate “into actions and deeds as well.”
*
Jewish Federation umbrella’s CEO calls for post-Iran deal communal unity
(JNS.org) Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) umbrella organization, called for Jewish communal unity in the aftermath of the Iran nuclear deal at JFNA’s General Assembly in Washington, DC.
“Something was markedly and dangerously different about what [Jewish] Federations faced this past summer” during the debate over the Iran deal, Silverman said Monday, noting that “too much of the language was vicious and beyond the pale, and has no place in our community.”
“It is imperative as we think forward and work to heal the wounds from that debate…let’s reinforce that Jewish Federations are places for diversity, evolving and adapting as North American Jews grow and change their perceptions of themselves, of Judaism, and of the world,” Silverman said. “We don’t need to be unanimous in our opinions, what we do need to be is unified as a community.”
He continued, “As we think forward, let’s remember that for all the trauma of the past year, our Jewish Federations and agencies continued their daily work in local communities educating our children, caring for our vulnerable, assisting our elderly, and ensuring that our vital work continues in Israel and around the world.”
*
Israel uncovers West Bank Hamas network funded by Gaza and Qatar
(JNS.org) Israeli authorities arrested 24 Hamas terrorist operatives in the West Bank on Monday who are suspected of trying to revive the Hamas network in the area with the help of Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip and Qatar.
Among the detainees were several high-ranking Hamas members who have been arrested before, some of them more than once. According to Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, 19 of the suspects are known to have direct links to Hamas or to have publicly voiced support for the organization, and the remaining five suspects are believed to have secret ties to Hamas.
The Shin Bet believes that the heads of the West Bank Hamas network had been working to renew the Hamas presence in Qaliqilya and the surrounding villages and had been preparing to engage in terrorist activity. The squad was reportedly receiving significant funding and direction from Hamas headquarters in Gaza and Qatar. During the arrest raid, more than $8,900 in cash was seized.
*
London mayor calls BDS movement ‘foolish’
(JNS.org) London Mayor Boris Johnson said that boycotters of Israel are “foolish” and do not have any clout in the United Kingdom.
“I cannot think of anything more foolish than to say you want to have any kind of divestment or sanctions or boycott against a country that, when all is said and done, is the only democracy in the region, is the only place that has, in my view, a pluralist and open society,” Johnson, who visited Israel to bolster London-Tel Aviv economic ties, told Israel’s Channel 2.
He added, “The supporters of this so-called boycott are really just corduroy-jacketed academics that have no real standing on the matter and I think are highly unlikely to be influential on Britain.”
*
Russia moves forward on delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran
(JNS.org) Russia announced on Monday that it has agreed to push forward on the sale and delivery of the advanced S-300 missile systems to Iran.
“The deal to supply the S-300 to Iran has not only been signed between the parties but it has already come into force,” said Sergei Chemezov, head of Russia’s Rostec arms firm, at the Dubai Airshow-2015, the BBC reported.
Russia said that the first batch of missiles could potentially be delivered 18 months after Iran specifies what type of S-300 missile it wants.
The S-300 surface-to-air-missile was initially developed under the Soviet Union, and its newer variants are regarded as the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems in the world.
Initially signed in 2007, the $800 million deal between Iran and Russia for the S-300 system was suspended in 2010. But in April, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the suspension after the nuclear framework deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers.
The United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia have all opposed the sale of the S-300 system to Iran.
*
U.S.-Israel security firm reveals global cyber espionage operation
(JNS.org) Researchers from Check Point Software, an American-Israeli security firm, published a report Monday detailing a large-scale cyber espionage operation targeting the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
The hacker group, Rocket Kitten, is allegedly linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The group targeted 1,600 individuals and organizations including Israeli scientists, Saudi Royal family members, NATO officials, Iranian dissidents, and other high-profile individuals.
After informing computer security teams who notified police in the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands of the locations of servers used to launch attacks from Iran, a raid at those locations has apparently ensued, according to Reuters.
*
WhatsApp founder opposes BDS movement in ‘priceless’ Facebook post
(JNS.org) WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum’s comment on a Facebook post revealed his stance against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The pro-Israel group StandWithUs posted a photograph of an Apple laptop covered with pro-Palestinian and “Boycott Israeli Goods” stickers. A hand-written note laying on top of the computer read, “Hi there! Just thought you should know the flash-storage inside this computer was designed and built by Anobit, an Israeli technology company! If you don’t want it any more, please pass it to the desk behind you.”
StandWithUs captioned the photo with, “From University of Oxford: Boycott Israel stickers on Israeli made technology—only a BDS supporter would be so foolish.” Koum commented “priceless” on the post, offering succinct public opposition to BDS.
*
Swedish Jews excluded from Kristallnacht commemoration over perceived security risk
(JNS.org) The Jewish community of Sweden was not invited to an annual anti-Nazi event commemorating Kristallnacht due to a perceived security risk, the Swedish newspaper Norrköpings Tidningar reported.
The organizers of “Umeå against Nazism,” held in the city of Umeå last week, said that anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests have occurred at past events and that it would be an unsafe environment for Jews.
“In previous years, we have had a lot of Palestinian flags at these rallies, and even one banner where the Israeli flag was equated with a swastika,” said the organizers.
Organizer and local Workers’ Party member Jan Hägglund said, “The Jewish community wasn’t invited because we assumed they might be uncomfortable around that sort of thing.”
*
Islamic State releases 37 Assyrian Christian hostages
(JNS.org) The Islamic State terror group over the weekend released 37 Assyrian Christian hostages, mostly women, after negotiating with the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East.
The Christians abducted were among a group of more than 200 people Islamic State terrorists kidnapped from villages in northern Syrian in February. The Assyrian Human Rights Network stated on Facebook that a number of hostages have already been released and that there are still 124 awaiting their freedom.
Edmond Gabriel, chairman of the Assyrian Charitable Association, said more Assyrian Christians would be released Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Islamic State murdered three Assyrian Christian captives in October.
*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.