Israeli Justice official: ‘Prisoner X’ agreed to take on pseudonym
(JNS.org) The the controversial Prisoner X, who has dominated the headlines in Israel and Australia in recent days, was “imprisoned under another name not just to protect state security, but also to protect the prisoner himself,” an Israeli Justice Ministry official told Israel Hayom Thursday.
Ben Zygier, a dual Israeli-Australian citizen and suspected Mossad agent, reportedly committed suicide in a high security prison cell in Israel in 2010 under the assumed identity Prisoner X. Publishing his name “could have endangered both his life and his family,” and Zygier “agreed to be held under a pseudonym,” said the Justice Ministry official, who declined to be named.
“His family was notified concurrently with his arrest, he was represented by a lawyer, an indictment was filed against him that was approved by the most senior judicial officials, he stood a routine criminal trial at a district court, and, unfortunately, during the course of the proceedings, he committed suicide,” the official said.
The official stressed that there are no unidentified prisoners in Israel, only prisoners who, for security reasons, are held under assumed identities, at times even with the prisoners’ consent—as was the case with Zygier.
In an interview with Army Radio, former senior Mossad official Rafi Eitan commented on the affair, saying “Israel is in the midst of an ongoing war that requires technology of some form.” The concealment of a prisoner’s identity, he said, is one of the tools that Israel has adopted in efforts to protect itself.
“The very exposure of the existence of this prisoner and the photos of him that are widely distributed can lead to the exposure of people that he worked with or had contact with and who worked together with him for us,” Eitan said.
“Israel is an island in a hostile sea of countries that are, sadly, still stuck in the 14th century,” he added. “The threat against Israel is ongoing and real and therefore there is no other choice—such mechanisms need to be implemented by our intelligence services despite reports in the global media.”
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Morocco restores ancient synagogue in nod to its Jewish heritage
(JNS.org) Morocco held a ceremony on Wednesday to inaugurate the completion of renovations to an ancient Jewish synagogue in the historic city of Fez.
The two-year restoration of the Slat al-Fassiyine (Prayer of the Fesians) synagogue was partly financed by Germany. The ceremony included Morocco’s Islamist prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, as well as German parliament speaker Norbert Lammert, according to Global Post.
In addition, a Jewish former Moroccan Minster Serge Berdugo spoke as well. Israel and Morocco do not have formal diplomatic relations.
The restoration of the ancient synagogue in Fez, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is part of a larger effort by Morocco to come to terms with its Jewish community. The new constitution that was adopted in 2011 amid the Arab Spring recognized Morocco’s Jewish heritage.
“As is enshrined in the Kingdom’s new Constitution, the Hebrew heritage is indeed one of the time-honored components of our national identity,” read King Mohammed VI’s message to the inauguration ceremony, Agence Marocaine De Presse (MAP) reported.
The King added that he wishes for the restoration of all synagogues in Moroccan cities so that they can “serve as places of worship…and as forums for cultural dialogue.”
Morocco was home to over 250,000 Jews during the first half of the 20th century. But amid the establishment of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict, many Jews fled or were forced from their homes throughout the Middle East. Today, Morocco’s Jewish community is estimated to be around 3,000.
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Britain and Norway continue to pay toward Palestinian terrorist salaries
(JNS.org) The British and Norwegian governments are refuting reports by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) showing they contribute funds to salaries given to thousands of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israeli jails, despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority has admitted the truth of that claim.
Britain’s Minister of State in the country’s Department for International Development (DfID) Alan Duncan said that “the second [PA] payment scheme [to prisoners] is intended to assist families in need of assistance.” Both the British and Norwegian governments say they received this information directly from the PA.
But recently, the PA Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa Karake, corroborated PMW’s original claim, stating that the reference to the prisoners’ “salaries” as social “assistance” was a false “rumor.” The prisoners are supported “out of esteem for their sacrifice and struggle,” he also said.
According to PMW, Palestinian terrorists who spend more than five years in Israeli prisons will continue receiving money even after their release. More than 4,000 now receive such permanent full monthly salaries. After the UK and Norway inquired about this, the PA admitted that its law originally stated it was paying “salaries”—called “ratib.” After the inquiry they changed the wording to “assistance”—“la’ana.”
“It is true that in some cases, payments will go to families of those who have committed the sort of crime that we utterly condemn. We believe however that it would be wrong to punish innocent children and dependent family members by denying them access to social support,” Duncan said.
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Outgoing Bank of Israel head calls for NIS 28 billion in cuts over next three years
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Outgoing Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer sounded the alarm Wednesday over the growing deficit and national debt, issuing a troubling report on the economic challenges Israel is facing. The report was the first time the bank commented on the larger-than-expected budget deficit in 2012, which stood at 4.2 percent of gross domestic product or 40 billion shekels ($10.9 billion) last year.
In its report, the Bank of Israel warned that the deficit could climb to as much as 4.9 percent of GDP unless the government scales back expenditures by NIS 13 billion ($3.5 billion) and raises an additional NIS 6 billion ($1.6 billion) in new taxes.
According to the report, the government will have to reduce spending by as much as NIS 10 billion ($2.7 billion) in 2014 and by an additional NIS 5 billion ($1.35 billion) in 2015. Overall spending cuts in 2013-2015 must amount to NIS 28 billion ($7.6 billion), which should be complemented by NIS 7.5 billion ($2 billion) in new tax revenue if Israel is to meet its target deficit, the report says.
Unless the government takes these measures, the deficit’s share of the GDP will reach 6 percent or NIS 60 billion ($16 billion) in 2015, a record figure.
The report also says Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio could reach 100 percent by 2020. The Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel have been able to rein in debt so that it hovers at 74 percent of GDP, but the geopolitical situation and the potential rise in defense spending make it imperative to continue lowering that figure, the report says. It also warns that without making significant adjustments to the state budget by cutting spending and raising taxes, the proportion of the debt is unlikely to shrink in the coming years.
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Violence against Christians causes tens of thousands to flee amid Syrian civil war
(JNS.org) Violence against Syria’s centuries-old Christian community from the government as well as Islamic radicals in the rebellion of the Syrian civil war is driving thousands of those Christians from their homes, with many fleeing to their ancient homeland in neighboring Turkey, the New York Times reported.
Syriac Christians make up one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. First established by the Jesus’s Apostle St. Peter in Antioch, the Church uses the world’s oldest liturgy—the Liturgy of St. James—and many adherents still speak Aramaic, the ancient Semitic language that was believed to be spoken by Jesus and his followers.
A Syriac priest, Father Gabriel Akyuz, described the threats Christians are facing in an interview with the New York Times.
“The gangs are kidnapping people and holding them to ransom. They are perpetrating great injustices. That is why Syriacs are fleeing,” he said.
As a result, tens of thousands of Syriac Christians are fleeing Syria for the Turkish region of Tur Abdin, the ancient heartland of Syriac Christians. The small Syriac community remaining in Turkey— estimated to be around 5,000, down from 200,000 a century ago—has been sheltering the Christian refugees in churches and monasteries with the help of Turkish authorities.
But many Christian refugees want to leave the Middle East altogether, requesting visas from their Christian brethren in the West. Local Christian leaders, however, are adamant about remaining, despite fears of the civil war and growing Islamic extremism.
“We tell every refugee who comes that he must not emigrate to Europe or America, but hold out in Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan, because emigration means that we will lose our homeland and our roots,” said Aziz Demir, the mayor of Kafro, a Syriac village in Tur Abdin, according to the New York Times.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org