Obama reportedly released $221 million to Palestinians in final hours of presidency
(JNS.org) In its waning hours, the Obama administration reportedly transferred $221 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) that had been blocked by Republican members of Congress.
According to a State Department official and several congressional aides, former President Barack Obama’s departing administration formally notified Congress of the move on the morning of Jan. 20, just hours before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Associated Press reported.
While Congress initially approved the funding for the Palestinians for 2015 and 2016, at least two lawmakers—U.S. Reps. Ed Royce (R-Ca.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas)—had held up the funding over unilateral moves by the PA to join international organizations. While the congressional hold is not legally binding, it is generally respected, according to the Associated Press.
The report added that the Obama administration had been pressing Congress for some time to release the funding, which comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The funds are slated to be used for humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza as well as to support political and security reforms in a possible future Palestinian state.
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Netanyahu invited to major African summit
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to attend a major African summit that will include the heads of 25-30 African nations.
Netanyahu was formally invited to the summit, to be held later this year in Togo, during a meeting Monday with Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey.
“There is a China-Africa conference, a France-Africa conference, and Togo thinks we need an Africa-Israel meeting between the heads of state,” Dussey told the Jerusalem Post.
Dussey said that several African countries—including Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda—have expressed strong support for the conference.
“We are 54 countries in Africa,” he said, “and we will invite 54 countries. We are expecting between 25-30 heads of states, not only from West Africa, but from all over Africa.”
Conference organizers said the summit, which will be held in Togo’s capital of Lome from Oct. 16-20, will focus on “security, counter-terrorism, economic ties and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health and education as well as new technology,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
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‘European countries must send a clear message against BDS,’ Israeli minister says
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel denounced the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a pro-Israel conference hosted Monday by the European Parliament in Brussels.
“All European countries must send a clear message against boycott organizations, as they did in Britain and Germany,” she said.
“The BDS movement, which has in recent years encouraged diplomatic terrorism against the state of Israel by spreading lies on campuses and at anti-Semitic events around the world, is not interested in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather works to isolate Israel from the rest of the world and undermines its right to exist as a democratic and Jewish state,” said Gamliel.
Jewish community leaders from across Europe and European Parliament members participated in the conference, titled “Israel: Include. Invest. Involve.” The gathering was organized by the Europe Israel Public Affairs lobby.
The European Parliament hosted a conference in support of the BDS movement on the same day as the pro-Israel event.
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White House says ‘no decision’ yet on moving US embassy to Jerusalem
(JNS.org) White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that “no decision” has been made on the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“We’re at the very early stages of that decision-making process,” Spicer told reporters after being asked how the move—a campaign promise by President Donald Trump—would serve U.S. strategic issues.
Spicer said that while Trump would move the embassy by executive order, the issue is not on his immediate agenda.
“It’s very early in this process,” Spicer said. “His team is going to continue to consult with [the] State [Department].”
Spicer’s latest comments come after he had said Sunday that the U.S. was in the “very beginning stages” of discussing the embassy move. At the same time, in an interview with Israel Hayom last week before taking office, Trump said he “did not forget” about his promise to move the embassy, adding that “you know that I am not a person who breaks promises.”
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Israeli official outlines plans to build an artificial island off Gaza Strip
(JNS.org) Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz presented ambitious regional plans to the country’s security cabinet Sunday, including a proposal to be build an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip to serve as a port for Palestinians.
Katz’s proposal calls for building an artificial island linked by a bridge to Gaza to give the Palestinians an outlet to the world without endangering Israeli security. The island would also include a desalination and electrical plant.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Katz’s plans are among a “growing number of ideas for addressing the Palestinian issue that have emerged from ministers and Knesset members in recent weeks coinciding with the change of government in Washington.”
Katz also proposed linking Israel’s rail lines with Jordan to allow Arab governments to the east, including the Palestinian Authority, to transport their goods to Haifa for global shipment.
At the same time, Katz called for the establishment of a “greater Jerusalem” that would expand the capital’s borders to include sovereignty over neighboring Jewish settlements.
“This plan strengthens Israel’s position and improves the situation in the region and does not preclude the possibility of negotiations or arrangements in the future,” Katz said.
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10-year-old Jewish girl among 5 killed in car-ramming in Australia
(JNS.org) A 10-year-old Jewish girl was one of five people killed last Friday when a driver intentionally plowed his car into pedestrians on a busy street in Melbourne, Australia.
The Jewish victim, Thalia Hakin, was with her 9-year-old sister and her mother—both of whom were injured and remained hospitalized as of Sunday—at the time of the incident, Chabad.org reported. Although the driver deliberately rammed his car into the crowd in Melbourne, it was not a terrorism-related incident, police said. At least 20 people were reportedly injured.
“Thalia was such a sweet, happy, girl—always with a smile on her face,” said Mushky Raskin, co-director of the Chabad McKinnon Jewish Centre in Melbourne, according to Chabad.org. “She loved everything she was learning about Judaism and was always so ready to share. She was such an eager participant in Shabbat celebrations, holiday events and whatever else was going on.”
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Abbas: moving US embassy to Jerusalem spells end of ‘two-state solution’
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan met in Amman Sunday to discuss the Trump administration’s potential plan to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
A joint Palestinian-Jordanian statement said Abbas and Abdullah “have agreed on a series of moves should the new Washington administration decide to move ahead with the relocation of the U.S. Embassy.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the embassy move “would effectively close the door on the two-state solution and will destabilize the entire region.”
During the past few weeks, Abbas has warned that relocating the embassy would escalate tensions and further derail the already stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Abbas urged President Donald Trump to shelve his plans for moving the embassy. He said a delegation of senior Palestinian officials, joined by Jordan’s king, plans to travel to Washington, D.C., and Moscow in the coming days for meetings with high-ranking American and Russian officials, with the aim of thwarting the embassy plan.
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Israeli cabinet delays Ma’ale Adumim annexation vote, Amona outpost deal falters
(JNS.org) The Israeli cabinet decided to delay a vote on a bill for Israel to annex the Jerusalem suburb of Ma’ale Adumim, which lies beyond the 1967 lines, until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Donald Trump next month.
According to Netanyahu, the Trump administration asked for Israel to refrain from any unilateral measures until the leaders’ expected meeting in February.
“There is no question about Ma’ale Adumim, and in any future accord it will be under Israeli sovereignty. But right now, at the request of the U.S. administration, we were asked not to surprise them but to formulate a joint policy,” Netanyahu said.
Meanwhile, residents of the West Bank Jewish outpost of Amona, who had signed a deal with the Israeli government to peacefully evacuate their homes ahead of a demolition, now say that Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who helped to craft the deal, have violated their agreement. As such, the residents said in a statement that they now oppose the plan to relocate their community and will “renew the public struggle” against that plan.
The Israeli High Court had ruled that the Amona outpost sits on privately owned Palestinian land and is therefore illegal. The government originally planned to demolish the outpost in late December, but struck a deal to extend the demolition 45 days, while relocating some of the residents to adjacent land and the rest to the nearby settlement of Ofra.
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Trump invites Netanyahu to White House
(JNS.org) President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Washington, D.C., next month in their first official conversation since Trump was sworn in.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that “President Trump invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to come to Washington to meet him in February. A final date for the visit will be set in the days ahead.”
The two leaders had a “very warm conversation” and Netanyahu “expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision and advance peace and security in the region,” the statement said.
In a White House statement, Trump described the conversation as “very nice” and stressed his “unprecedented commitment” to Israel’s security.
“The president and the prime minister agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran,” the White House said.
Additionally, the Trump administration said it believes “peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties….The United States will work closely with Israel to make progress toward that goal.”
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Israeli and American Jewish leaders congratulate President Trump on inauguration
(JNS.org) Israeli and American Jewish leaders congratulated President Donald Trump on his inauguration Friday.
“Congrats to my friend President Trump,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. “Look forward to working closely with you to make the alliance between Israel and the United States of America stronger than ever.”
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said, “A true friend of Israel will enter the White House today. Thank you President Trump for your unequivocal support, we look forward to welcoming you to our capital of Jerusalem.”
Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a coordinating body on international and national concerns for 52 national Jewish groups, said they “look forward to working with President Trump and his administration to deepen the historic special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, enhance the safety and security of the Jewish state and its people and on other issues of vital importance to the American Jewish community.”
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) leaders said they “appreciate our new president’s determination to eliminate the scourge of radical Islam, and his quote of one of our favorite lines from Psalm 133, often sung by the Jewish people, about dwelling together in unity.” Trump said in his speech, “We will shine for everyone to follow. We will eradicate radical Islamic terrorism from the face of the earth. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. The Bible tells us, ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.’”
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Columbia University professor compares Israel advocates to vermin
(JNS.org) Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York City, has complained that pro-Israel advocates will “infest” the Donald Trump administration, twice using a term that usually refers to vermin or insects.
Khalidi, who is editor of the pro-Palestine Liberation Organization “Journal of Palestine Studies,” made the remarks Jan. 19 in an interview with Chicago radio station WBEZ.
Several critics of Israel have been called out by Jewish leaders in recent months for their use of dehumanizing rhetoric. Last July, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said Israeli settlements were “like termites,” but later apologized for the remark. This month, former U.S. diplomat David A. Korn—writing in the Washington Post—compared the settlements to “a rash.” Korn subsequently told JNS.org that he was “not going to apologize to anyone.”
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Israeli minister calls for investigation into Arab Knesset members’ incitement
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan urged Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to launch an investigation into Arab Members of Knesset Ayman Odeh, Jamal Zahalka and Hanin Zoabi on suspicion of incitement to violence and murder, following Wednesday’s car-ramming attack in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran that killed Israel Police Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Erez Levi.
The attack took place during a riot that broke out as police forces were executing eviction and demolition orders over illegal construction. Most of the Joint Arab List party’s lawmakers were present at the scene, and took advantage of their parliamentary immunity to agitate the already volatile situation and clash with police.
“The vile attack was preceded by long and ongoing malicious and methodical incitement, with the participation of publicly elected officials from Israel’s Knesset,” Erdan wrote Thursday in his appeal to Mandelblit.
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Israeli authorities catch band of antiquities thieves in the act
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Inspectors from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Israeli Border Police apprehended 11 antiquities thieves this week while the thieves were digging in a hidden cave that once belonged to the ancient Jewish village of Maskana, located near what is now the Golani Junction in the Lower Galilee region.
The ring of thieves—the largest ever apprehended in Israel’s north—was caught in the act by members of the Antiquities Robbery Prevention Unit as well as border patrol officers and volunteers. The thieves dug deep into the cave and caused serious damage to the site.
“Maskana was a Jewish village in the Roman period,” said Nir Distelfeld, a member of the Antiquities Robbery Prevention Unit. He added, “The Maskana community is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud as a Jewish village located halfway between [the ancient northern city of] Sepphoris and Tiberias.”
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Israel’s president recognizes $100 million American-Israeli STEM education initiative
(JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin honored a $100 million U.S.-Israel initiative for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
At the President’s Residence in Jerusalem this week, Rivlin recognized media mogul and philanthropist Mortimer Zuckerman for the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program, which provides scholarships supporting American post-doctoral researchers and graduate students in their efforts to collaborate with Israeli researchers at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
“As an Israeli, I know that you, Mr. Zuckerman, are one of the great people that has helped us create something that allows Israel to be appreciated all over the world for its education and responsibility,” Rivlin said.
The first group of the STEM program’s “Zuckerman Scholars” began their collaborative efforts during the 2016–2017 academic year. The program intends to provide more than $100 million in scholarships and other funding over the course of 20 years.
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