Israel: U.N. Palestinian refugee group should refrain from ‘one-sided political advocacy’
(JNS.org) The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a strong statement against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Tuesday, calling on the organization “to return to its original humanitarian agenda of assisting Palestinian refugees, while refraining from any one-sided political advocacy activities.”
The Foreign Ministry was responding to a UNRWA press statement released on Monday about an incident earlier that day in which three Palestinians were killed during an Israel Defense Forces anti-terror raid in Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem.
In a statement about the incident, UNRWA cited “credible reports” that an UNRWA employee had been shot “on his way to work, and was not involved in any violent activity.” On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Israel regretted the fatalities and that a formal investigation had been launched by the IDF into the incident.
“Without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation, we were disappointed but not surprised at UNRWA’s press statement from yesterday,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“Quite aside from the fact that UNRWA did not even bother to approach any official Israeli sources for comment, its statement was rushed to the press while the violent riots were still raging on in Qalandiya. Hence, it begs the question of how it was possible for [UNRWA] to collect forensic evidence, cross reference personal eye-witness reports and reach peremptory conclusions—all of that in the space of just a few hours,” the ministry added.
Earlier in August, UNRWA “negligently allowed a third party to use some of its installations in order to organize ‘summer camps’ where anti-Semitism and incitement to violence were preached to Palestinian youth,” according to the Foreign Ministry.
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Netanyahu: Israel ready to ‘respond fiercely’ if attacked by Syria
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that while Israel is not part of the Syrian civil war, the Jewish state would “respond, and we will respond fiercely” if attacked.
Netanyahu held an urgent meeting with his security cabinet on Tuesday afternoon in Tel Aviv, following a meeting between senior Israeli officials and U.S. security officials Washington, DC. After the Israeli security cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel “was prepared for any eventuality” relating to the Syria conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon echoed Netanyahu’s stern warning to Syria.
“Those who dare to test us will encounter the IDF’s might,” Ya’alon said. “Facing the storm, the IDF’s spirit is no less strong.”
Meanwhile, late Monday, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice hosted a delegation led by Israel’s National Security Chairman Yaakov Amidror for consultations on Iran, Egypt, Syria and a range of other regional security issues.
“Today’s meetings were the latest in a series of regular, high-level consultations between the United States and Israel, consistent with our strong bilateral partnership, and part of our unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security,” a White House statement read.
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Israel and China to increase passenger flights
(JNS.org) In a sign of growing economic partnership, Israeli and Chinese transportation authorities have signed an agreement to significantly increase the frequency of passenger flights between their countries.
According to the deal, Israel and China can operate 14 regular passenger flights as well as seven cargo flights between the countries.
Until now, only Israel’s El Al operated three weekly flights to Beijing, while China’s national airline, Air China, does not provide any flights to Israel. Approximately 50,000 passengers per year travel between Tel Aviv and Beijing, while another 30,000 make the trip via other stopovers.
“I believe that the agreement is likely to bring to Israel hundreds of thousands and even millions of Chinese fans of the history of the Israeli people and of Jewish sites, which attract millions of visitors from around the world,” Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
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Rosh Hashanah recipes from around the world featured on JDC app
(JNS.org) The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) released a Facebook application that allows users to access Rosh Hashanah recipes from around the world.
Dishes featured on JDC’s “Global Kitchen Facebook App”—along with do-it-yourself cooking videos—include lekach (a spiced honey cake from the British Isles) a traditional Eastern European kugel, and matoke (a sweet plantain-based stew from Africa).
“By utilizing Facebook and other social media platforms, we’ve been able to robustly engage our global Jewish audience in our rich holiday traditions,” Graham Cannon, JDC’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
JDC’s Rosh Hashanah app can be found at https://www.facebook.com/TheJDC/app_171729139681988.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org