U.S. promised Pollard would be freed after 10 years
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Former Israeli cabinet minister Rafi Eitan, the ex-Mossad agent who operated Jonathan Pollard in the mid-1980s, told Army Radio on Monday that he handed over incriminating information about Pollard because the U.S. had promised Israel that Pollard would serve no more than 10 years in prison.
Pollard, now 59, was arrested by U.S. authorities in 1985 and later convicted of spying for Israel. On Nov. 21 marks the 28th anniversary of his incarceration. He is the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally.
Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat (Likud) said Monday that the Israeli government should condition any further gestures to the Palestinians, including the release of terrorists, on the U.S. freeing Pollard.
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Israel beats Guinness record for donating hair to cancer patients
(JNS.org) Israel broke the Guinness world record for donating the most hair to cancer victims in a single drive, producing 53.1 kilograms (117 pounds) on Monday, Israel Hayom reported. The previous Guinness record was 48.7 kilograms (107 pounds).
About 250 women attended the hair drive in Jerusalem organized by the Zichron Menachem Association for the Support of Children with Cancer and their Families, which worked in conjunction with the Pantene hair products company. Among the donors were three sisters whose father is battling cancer, and a young girl who had recovered from the disease and donated the wig she wore during her illness.
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Iraqi Jewish Archive goes on display in Washington
(JNS.org) The U.S. National Archives is now displaying 24 out of 2,700 Jewish books and ancient documents that were recovered in the basement of the Iraqi intelligence ministry (Mukhabarat) during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The exhibit opened Nov. 8 and will run through Jan. 5, 2014.
According to an agreement the U.S. signed with Iraqi authorities, the collection—known as the “Iraqi Jewish Archive”—will be returned to the Iraqi government when its restoration is complete. But the Iraqi Jewish community says the Saddam Hussein government originally confiscated the materials from a synagogue in 1984.
Stanley Urman, executive vice president of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), previously told JNS.org, “We (JJAC) believe the agreement is based on a flawed premise, that premise being that the archives are the property of the Iraqi government. Our question is—how did they get into the basement of the Mukhabarat?”
A State Department official told JNS.org in an email last month that the department’s “primary concern in bringing the objects to the United States was that they be preserved, conserved, restored, and exhibited for the benefit of the Iraqi Jewish community, as well as posterity.”
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Pope Francis on Kristallnacht: Jewish people ‘big brothers’ of Catholics
(JNS.org) Pope Francis I called the Jewish people the “big brothers” of Roman Catholics as he marked the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), the November 1938 looting and violence against German Jews and their businesses that is considered the start of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
“We renew our closeness and solidarity to the Jewish people, our big brothers, and pray to God that the memory of the past and of the sins of the past helps us to be always vigilant against every form of hate and intolerance,” Francis told worshippers outside of St. Peter’s Square during his Sunday mass, according to the European Jewish Press.
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U.K. and Iran re-establish diplomatic ties
(JNS.org) Despite the breakdown in talks between Western powers and Iran over its nuclear program, the United Kingdom and Iran have re-established diplomatic ties, ending two years of severed relations.
The British Foreign Office said that Ajay Sharma, who heads the ministry’s Iran department, would take up a position as non-resident charge d’affaires with Iran. But the U.K. will not reopen its embassy in Tehran at this time. For now, Sharma will instead travel to Iran on a monthly basis, Reuters reported.
The U.K. severed ties with Iran in 2011 after Iranian protestors upset over British sanctions stormed its embassy in Tehran. According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, both sides agreed to reestablish ties at the sidelines of the United Nation’s General Assembly gathering in September.
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Avigdor Lieberman sworn in as Israeli foreign minister
(JNS.org) Avigdor Lieberman has been officially sworn in as Israel’s foreign minister, returning to his old position less than a week after being acquitted on fraud charges.
The Knesset voted 62-17 in favor of returning Lieberman to Israel’s top diplomatic post. The Israeli cabinet also approved his return in a vote on Sunday, paving the way for the Knesset vote.
Lieberman originally resigned from the position, which he held from 2009-2012, after he was indicted. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept the post open for him until the end of his trial.
“I missed him in the government,” Netanyahu said, the Jerusalem Post reported. “We have a lot to work on, great trials and challenges. It’s important for us to work together.”
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Preceding provided by JNS.org