Middle East Roundup: August 18, 2016

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Turkish parliament set to approve normalization deal with Israel

(JNS.org) Turkey on Wednesday submitted to its parliament for its approval a deal to normalize relations with Israel that would end a six-year rift between the former Middle East allies.

According to the text of the submitted agreement, Israel will pay Turkey $20 million in compensation within 25 days, AFPreported citing Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. In exchange, the legal case against the Israeli commandos who took part in the 2010 raid on the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara that killed nine Turkish activists would be dropped.

This deal was already approved by the Israeli cabinet in June, however, it was held up in Turkey after the July 15 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Once the normalization process is finished, Turkey and Israel will begin the process of exchanging ambassadors that would allow them to have fully restored ties.
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Israel, US air force chiefs meet, discuss collaboration

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein concluded his first official visit to Israel Wednesday.

Goldfein arrived in Israel on Monday at the invitation of Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel.

During his visit, Goldfein toured IAF bases, met with air force officers and soldiers, and participated in a simulation flight.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that during their meetings Eshel and Goldfein discussed the challenges the IAF faces given the geopolitical and strategic changes in the Middle East, and the close collaboration between the Israeli and American air forces.

Juniper Cobra 16, a massive, joint Israeli-American air defense exercise with the IAF and USAF, took place in Israel in February.

The exercise was the latest in the series of biennial, five-day combined air defense drills that have been held by the American and Israeli air forces since 2001.
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UN Special Envoy condemns Lutheran church’s demands to Israel

(JNS.org) Special Envoy to the United Nations Laurie Cardoza-Moore this week harshly criticized a resolution by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ECLA) that calls on the U.S. to stop giving military aid to Israel.

Backers of the resolution want the aid halted until building in Judea and Samaria stops, and they want to see the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“The Lutheran Church’s decision to single out the Jewish State for rebuke is nothing short of anti-Semitic heresy based on its anti-Semitic roots,” said Cardoza-Moore who represents the World Council of Independent Christian Churches (WCICC) at the UN. “It would seem that the Lutheran Church has chosen to follow in the path of their founder Martin Luther, who, later in his life, became a vehement anti-Semite.”

The ELCA, which has four million members in 10,000 congregations throughout America, also called on President Obama to recognize the state of Palestine and to agree to not block its application for full membership in the UN.

Cardoza-Moore, a Christian Zionist, called the Lutheran’s Church’s decision “absurd” and “anti-Christian” based on the fact that there was never a Palestinian State in the Bible and that God’s land covenant with Jews is eternal and irrevocable.

ELCA also voted to divest from all Israeli investments aligning with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. They are now the ninth Christian denomination to divest from Israel.
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Ford buys Israeli startup to improve self-driving car technology

(JNS.org) Ford Motor Co. recently bought the Israeli startup, SAIPS, to improve its driverless car technology and plans to put these vehicles on the road in a ride-sharing service by 2021, the company announced this week.

SAIPS, an Israeli company focusing on machine learning and computer vision, is one of four investments Ford is making to enhance its technology and eventually deliver a fully autonomous vehicle.

“SAIPS has developed algorithmic solutions in image and video processing, deep learning, signal processing and classification,” Ford officials said. “This expertise will help Ford autonomous vehicles learn and adapt to the surroundings of their environment.”

SAIPS, founded in 2013 by CEO Udy Danino, Chief Technology Officer Rotem Littman and U.S. Branch Manager Noga Zieber, is based in Tel-Aviv and has 15 employees. The startup’s most recent clients include HP and Israel Aerospace Industries.

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