Israeli ministers officially approve reconciliation deal with Turkey
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli diplomatic-security cabinet on Wednesday approved the recently struck reconciliation agreement between Israel and Turkey. Following a five-hour debate, the cabinet ministers voted 7-3 in favor of the agreement.
Israel’s cabinet approval of the agreement came a day after a shooting and bombing attack, suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic State terror group, killed 41 people at Turkey’s Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.
Yisrael Beiteinu party leader and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman voted against the agreement, as did Habayit Hayehudi party leader and Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.
In the past, Lieberman has been a vocal opponent of reconciliation with Turkey and vehemently opposed Israel paying compensation to families of Turkish victims of clashes with the Israel Defense Forces during the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident.
The approval came despite various demands to amend the agreement and calls to bring the deal to a vote by the larger Israeli cabinet, which includes all the government’s ministers, and even the entire Knesset legislature.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold and his Turkish counterpart Feridun Sinirlioglu formally signed off on the agreement in their bureaus in Jerusalem and Ankara.
While Israel’s diplomatic-security cabinet convened Wednesday, the families of Operation Protective Edge casualties Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, Israeli soldiers whose remains are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and Avera Mengistu, an Israeli civilian who has been in Hamas captivity since he crossed the border fence into Gaza in September 2014, protested the agreement outside the cabinet room. The families are demanding that the deal include the return of their relatives or their remains to Israel.
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Unmanned Israeli sea vessel successfully test fires torpedo
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s Elbit Systems defense company on Tuesday announced a recent successful test launch of a torpedo by its Seagull unmanned sea vehicle.
The test, conducted in the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa, confirmed the Seagull’s ability to fire lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes. The Seagull, a 39-foot-long unmanned surface vehicle, is designed to carry out an array of maritime missions, including securing sensitive sea areas and protecting ships against threats posed by submarines and mines.
Ofer Ben-Dov, vice president Naval Systems Business Line at Elbit Systems’s ISTAR Division, said, “The success of this test demonstrates Seagull’s modular mission system capability, enabling a highly effective anti-submarine warfare configuration of high-performance dipping sonar using two single tube torpedoes. The test highlighted Seagull’s unique capacity to detect and engage submarines, in addition to its ability to detect and destroy sea mines—all using the same multi-mission USV system in modular configurations. This new and important capability has, to date, only been available to navies through manned vehicles.”
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U.N. leader calls Israel’s Gaza blockade a form of ‘collective punishment’
(JNS.org) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip during his visit to the region on Tuesday.
In a tour of a U.N.-run school in Gaza, Ban said that “the closure of Gaza suffocates its people, stifles its economy, and impedes reconstruction efforts.”
“It’s a collective punishment for which there must be accountability,” he said.
Ban also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, where the prime minister urged Ban force Hamas—the Palestinian terror group ruling Gaza—to return the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza during the 2014 war there, in addition to two missing Israelis who are believed to be in Hamas captivity.
“Hamas is cruelly and illegally holding the remains of our soldiers and holding our citizens. I ask you to use your standing to help return home these soldiers and these citizens,” Netanyahu said.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization,” he said. “Hamas has genocidal aims. It doesn’t merely practice terrorism. It says openly that its goal is to wipe away from the face of the Earth a member state of the United Nations.”
Netanyahu also reminded Ban of the security need for the Gaza and the threat that Israel faces from Hamas.
“I hope the U.N. will highlight Hamas’s crimes and understand that our security measures are aimed only at keeping our citizens safe from this threat, and we use judicious force in this regards,” said Netanyahu.
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UNRWA school hides map of ‘historic Palestine’ during secretary-general’s visit
(JNS.org) A United Nations-run school in the Gaza Strip covered up a map of “historic Palestine” during a visit by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.
According to reports, the map—which depicts “Palestine” as replacing Israel—was covered up with a white cloth during Ban’s press conference at the school. U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school officials reportedly hid the map to avoid the eruption of a diplomatic controversy between the Palestinians and the United Nations.
An UNRWA spokesperson in Gaza, Adnan Abu Hasna, claimed that “there was no covered-up map during Ban’s press conference in Gaza,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
In his remarks in Gaza, Ban described Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled coastal territory as a “collective punishment” of the Palestinians.
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly to run again for Iranian president in 2017
(JNS.org) Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly announced that he will run in Iran’s spring 2017 presidential elections.
The former speaker for Ahmadinejad’s government, Gholam-Hossein Elham, had informed the Iranian election board of Ahmadinejad’s intention to run for the office, according to a report in the Iranian reformist newspaper Shargh.
Ahmadinejad, who served two terms as president from 2005-2013, on Monday made his first public appearance since leaving office for a speech at the Narmak mosque in Tehran. During his tenure as president, Ahmadinejad was noted for his hardline positions, his denial of the Holocaust, and his tirades against Israel—including calls to wipe Israel off the map.
A source close to the former Iranian leader, however, denied that Ahmadinejad would run again for president.
“What is being said about Ahmadinejad’s intention to put forward his candidacy at the presidential election is inaccurate information. It is too early to talk about anyone’s plans to stand for the presidency,” the source told Russia’s state-run Sputnik news agency.
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Western nations boycott U.N. council’s permanent agenda item on Israel
(JNS.org) Western nations on Monday refused to participate in the Agenda Item 7 debate at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. The debate is a permanent agenda item that mandates discussion of any possible Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians.
Agenda Item 7 is debated three times a year. For the last three years, Israel has been asking countries to boycott the debate on the agenda item. In the past, some Western states have participated in the debate, including a few European nations, but this time those countries opted out. The United States has always boycotted the Agenda Item 7 debate.
Pakistan’s deputy representative to the U.N., Aamar Aftab Qureshi, urged “all member states to actively participate in Agenda Item 7,” adding that the UNHRC’s credibility was undermined by Western nations’ absence.
The U.N.’s 54-member regional African Group spoke out against Israel during Monday’s debate, citing alleged violations of Palestinian rights. At the same time, Israel’s government is set to approve a NIS 50 million ($13 million) package to improve economic ties with Africa ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to that continent next week.
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New Jersey legislature passes anti-BDS bill
(JNS.org) The New Jersey General Assembly on Monday passed legislation that prohibits the state from investing in pension and annuity funds that boycott the State of Israel or Israeli businesses.
The bill was approved in a 69-3 vote, with two abstentions. The New Jersey Senate passed similar legislation in May.
“This bill ensures the State of New Jersey will not support those that participate in campaigns fueled by intolerance and anti-Semitism—like the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. New Jersey legislators took a clear stand against the bigotry and discrimination of BDS, which singles out only Israel,” said Avi Posnick, northeast managing director of the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs.
Trade between New Jersey and Israel amounts to more than $1.3 billion annually.
“[The anti-BDS measure] is a tremendous milestone for the relationship between the state of New Jersey and the nation of Israel,” said Posnick, who testified before the New Jersey Senate prior to its May 10 vote.
New Jersey joins 12 other U.S. states that have passed similar anti-BDS bills.
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