Abbas shirks responsibility for stalled peace talks, Netanyahu’s office says
(JNS.org) The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday denied claims by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinian leader had recently sought a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but was ignored.
“This is another attempt by Abu Mazen (Abbas) to shirk responsibility for the stalled peace negotiations. In Davos as well, Netanyahu has urged Abu Mazen to resume talks without preconditions,” one official said, Israel Hayom reported.
On Thursday, Netanyahu, who was participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, publicly invited Abbas to return to the negotiating table.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued the clarification after a press conference held by Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday morning. Abbas had told Israeli reporters that his office had recently reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office to set up a meeting with Netanyahu and reignite the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. According to Abbas, the overture was ignored.
“I agreed to meet with Netanyahu but his people never got back to us,” Abbas said.
Regarding allegations that PA incitement has fueled the current wave of Palestinian terrorism, Abbas asked, “When have I incited?” He also said that the benefits (such as salaries) afforded by the PA to terrorists’ families are justified because “the families of those who carry out attacks cannot be blamed for their actions. We will continue to pay them.”
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Pregnant victim of stabbing undeterred, calls on Arabs to embrace peace
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Pregnant Israeli woman Michal Froman, who was stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist on Jan. 18, called on Arabs to embrace peace.
“I may have cheated death, but I did not defeat terrorism,” she said on Thursday after being discharged from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Froman, 30, who is 18 weeks pregnant, sustained moderate wounds when she was attacked in Tekoa, a Jewish community in Judea and Samaria. Froman, the daughter-in-law of the late Rabbi Menachem Froman, a prominent advocate for coexistence, did not let the attack alter her views on her Arab neighbors.
“The ambulance driver who drove me had more human compassion than many of the Jews know,” she said shortly after the attack, Ynet reported. “I call on Arabs like him to join hands and do something together to change things….I know this is hard, and it may take many years to achieve, but together we will emerge victorious; the faster we get this done, the better things are for everyone.”
Froman said she feels “a great urge to give back and to implement the lessons I learned from this ordeal—namely, to make life stronger and to give to others.”
British doctors seek to remove Israeli group from World Medical Association
(JNS.org) A group of 71 doctors in the United Kingdom are pressuring the World Medical Association to remove the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) from the global body’s membership, an IMA representative said at the Israeli Knesset this week.
“The professional British journals have adopted the idea of letters to the editor that libel Israeli doctors,” Dr. Ze’ev Feldman, IMA’s chairman, said Jan. 20 during a Knesset Science and Technology Committee meeting, Israel National News reported. “They claim our doctors perform medical torture on Palestinian patients.”
Feldman later told the Jerusalem Post that “everyone must understand that there is an organized struggle—a fight against academia, doctors, and other Israeli bodies.”
“Our stance is that these accusations are lies, and we are engaged in a dialogue with the World Medical Association and we will bring forth the facts, and I hope that it will be enough to [persuade the association to] reject this request [to exclude the IMA],” he added.
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New Israeli app provides step-by-step CPR instructions
(JNS.org) EZ CPR, an Israeli smartphone app that was launched this week, provides instructions on how to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) in emergency situations.
Eli Beer, president of the United Hatzalah emergency response organization, teamed up with the ESC BAZ technology solutions company to create the app. Users are given step-by-step instructions on how to administer first aid to people who lose consciousness, as well as how to use a defibrillator. Additionally, users can press an emergency button that notifies emergency medical service providers of the user’s location.
In the coming months, the app—which is currently only available in Hebrew—will roll out English, French, Spanish, and Russian versions, and will include an additional feature for instructing users on how to resuscitate babies. The app can be downloaded from the United Hatzalah Facebook page, thewww.ez-cpr.com website, Google Play, and the iTunes store.
Another new Israeli app, called ZCast, enables users to record and stream group conversations with up to 1,000 people listening in.
“Our end goal is for anybody who wants to create content to seamlessly connect audio content,” said Hillel Fuld, chief marketing officer for ZCast’s creator, the Zula start-up.
Fuld said ZCast is similar to the Google Hangouts platform, and that the app is still working on ways to integrate features such as subscribing to receive automatic downloads. For now, users must listen through the Web or the smartphone app, which became available through the iTunes stores on Thursday.
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Kerry admits that ‘some’ Iran sanctions relief will likely fund terrorism
(JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday admitted that “some” of the roughly $150 billion in sanctions relief coming Iran’s way in the newly implemented nuclear deal will likely fund terrorism.
“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC (Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” Kerry told CNBC television. “You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented. But I can tell you this, right now, we are not seeing the early delivery of funds going to that kind of endeavor at this point in time.”
Kerry also asserted that “if we catch them (the Iranians) funding terrorism, they’re going to have a problem in the U.S. Congress and other people, obviously.”
Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, including its funding of the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups.
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Jerusalem Unity Prize accepts nominations, adds ex-IDF chief to committee
JNS.org) Nominations are currently being accepted for the second annual Jerusalem Unity Prize, which honors individuals who significantly promote unity in Jewish communities. The newest additions to the prize committee are Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharanksy and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Benny Gantz, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced this week.
The prize was launched by Barkat (the committee’s chair), the Israeli non-profit Gesher, and the families of the three Jewish teens who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas in Gush Etzion in the summer of 2014 (Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach). The award’s creation was inspired by the global Jewish unity that was displayed while the teens were missing but not yet known to be dead.
“Benny Gantz is a natural leader whose resolve carried the Israeli military through the tragic period following our boys’ abduction and the subsequent campaign in Gaza,” the late teens’ families said in a statement. “Natan Sharansky serves as the ultimate symbol of Jewish heroism and courage whose personal story has inspired millions. Both of these figures therefore exhibit the traits which inspire pride and unity within the modern Jewish experience and we feel deeply honored to have them as part of this effort.”
“Jerusalem is the eternal home and capital of the Jewish people and the very symbol of the power of our unity. Historically, Jerusalem was not divided into tribes and the gates of our city have always been open to all. The Jerusalem Unity Prize is a modern celebration of that very power of the Jewish people coming together,” Barkart said.
Nominations for the unity prize will be accepted through Feb. 4 via www.unityprize.org. Prizes of up to NIS 300,000 (about $75,000) will be awarded to unity initiatives on the local, national, and global levels.
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Jonathan Pollard to speak at meeting of major Jewish organizations
(JNS.org) Jonathan Pollard, who was released from a U.S. prison last November after being incarcerated for 30 years over spying on America for Israel, will reportedly speak at a meeting of major Jewish groups next week.
Pollard will speak to members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York City, on the topic of his legal battle to ease the conditions of his parole, the Forward reported. The meeting will also include U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), who had been active in the effort to secure Pollard’s release. Nadler and Engel also wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting better parole conditions for Pollard.
Before he was freed, Pollard was the only person in U.S. history to be sentenced to life in prison for spying for an American ally.
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Netanyahu: Arab nations more realistic on Israeli-Palestinian conflict than EU
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that a number of Arab nations are becoming more realistic about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than many European Union countries.
“Saudi Arabia recognizes that Israel is an ally rather than an enemy because of the two principle threats that threaten them, Iran and Daesh (Islamic State),” Netanyahu said during an onstage interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in Davos, Switzerland.
“‘Who can help us?’ they ask. Obviously, Israel and the Sunni Arab states are not on opposite sides,” said the prime minister.
Netanyahu continued, “I have one request, that the EU policy vis a vis Israel and the Palestinians merely reflect now the prevailing Arab policy to Israel and the Palestinians. There is a great shift taking place…we used to think that if we solved the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it would solve the larger Israeli Arab conflict. The more I look at it, the more I think it may be the other way around. That by nurturing these relationships that are taking place now with the Arab world, that could actually help us resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we’re actually working towards that end.”
Netanyahu’s remarks come as Israel is receiving criticism for declaring 154 hectares (380 acres) in the Jordan Valley as “state lands,” according to the COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) unit of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Reuters reported.
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Slovenian supermarket chain backs out of BDS-inspired boycott of Israel
(JNS.org) The largest Slovenian supermarket chain, Mercator, has reneged on its earlier decision to remove Israeli products from its shelves, a move that had come in response to pressure from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Prior to the latest decision, Shmuel Meirom, Israel’s ambassador to Slovenia, was planning to visit Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry to protest the original decision and to try to convince the CEO of the supermarket chain against the boycott. But Mercator decided to reorder Israeli goods in response to public outcry.
This was the second time the supermarket chain removed Israeli products of its shelves, only to bring them back later. The first incident occurred in 2014.
“There is no Slovenian boycott on Israeli products. The agreements between the European Union and Israel are the basis of Israel’s special status in its relations with Slovenia as well. The government of Slovenia has not held stocks in Mercator since 2014. The ties between Israel and Slovenia have always been good and are characterized by vast cooperation, mostly in the fields of economics, science, research, advanced technologies, and tourism,” the Slovenian Embassy in Israel said in a statement, reported Yedioth Ahronoth.
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