Palestinian terrorist kills IDF soldier at Afula bus station
(JNS.org) Israel Defense Forces soldier Eden Attias, 19, from Nazareth Illit, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian teenager Wednesday in the northern Israeli city of Afula, Israel Hayom reported.
The terrorist attack took place around 8:30 a.m. aboard the 823 Egged bus from Nazareth Illit to Tel Aviv. Sixteen-year-old Hussein Jawadra from Jenin, who authorities say was residing in Israel illegally, attacked Attias when the bus came to a stop, stabbing him multiple times.
Jawadra then attempted to flee the scene but was quickly apprehended by another soldier and border policeman who were also on the bus. Attias, who joined the IDF in October and was still undergoing basic training, sustained several wounds to his neck and chest. Magen David Adom paramedics rushed him to Haemek Medical Center in Afula where he underwent emergency surgery, and later died of his wounds.
“The soldier was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, suffering from massive blood loss. We administered a series of treatments in an attempt to stabilize his condition, but the injury to his heart was too severe and despite our best possible efforts there was nothing we could do,” Haemek Medical Center Deputy Director Dr. Tuvia Tiyosuno told the Israeli Channel 2 TV network.
Gaza rocket fire drops 98 percent since Pillar of Defense, Netanyahu says
(JNS.org) Speaking at an event marking the one-year anniversary of Operation Pillar of Defense, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that there has been a 98-percent drop in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip since the Israel Defense Forces’ operation that came in response to a barrage of Palestinian rockets.
“There is no doubt that significant deterrence has been achieved,” Netanyahu told soldiers from the Gaza Division of the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Hayom reported.
But Israel still knows that “Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are continuing to arm themselves in various ways,” said the prime minister.
“They are also trying to develop the underground track, i.e. tunnels, and it is incumbent upon us to find a response to all of these threats and, at the same time, continue the strong deterrence that we have achieved and which we are maintaining,” Netanyahu said.
2,500 runners take part in 2nd annual Jerusalem night run
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Jerusalem municipality, in conjunction with Marathon Israel, held the second annual night run in the Israeli capital on Tuesday.
More than 2,500 runners from across the country, among them Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, ran 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) along a route featuring modern and historic sites—including the foothills of the Old City, the Tower of David, Jaffa Gate, the Mamilla mall, and the King David Hotel.
Barkat said, “The night run in Jerusalem gives the runners a breathtaking experience amid Jerusalem’s enchanting atmosphere and the Old City at night.
Iraqi Jewish Archive should be protected and accessible, 42 groups say
(JNS.org) Forty-two groups, led by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, on Tuesday released a statement calling on the U.S. government to assure that the Iraqi Jewish Archive, which America plans to return to Iraq, would be protected and continually accessible to Iraqi Jewish communities around the world.
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—which became 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.
On Tuesday, the Conference of Presidents called on Secretary of State John Kerry to “consult with representative bodies of Iraq’s expatriate Jewish community and officials before any further decision is made” on the archive.
Stanley Urman, executive vice president of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), previously told JNS.org, “We believe the agreement [to return the archive to Iraq] 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.”
But JJAC’s Urman said, “We question the willingness and ability of the Iraqi government to do what they purport to do, to preserve the Iraqi Jewish patrimony.”
Temple Mount Jewish worship ‘adamantly opposed’ by Jordanian minister
(JNS.org) A top Jordanian official vetoed an Israeli government request to allow Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.
Abd Al-Nasser, Jordan’s minister for Jerusalem’s Islamic holy sites, said that he is “adamantly opposed” to any form of Jewish worship at the site, the Jordanian daily al-Rad reported.
Under the terms of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, Israel recognizes Jordan’s “special role” in managing select Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, which is managed under Islamic Waqf. Currently, Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount on select days and times, but are not permitted to pray there.
Last week, Arab-Israeli Knesset members stormed out of a meeting on Jewish visitation to the Temple Mount, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel may become first non-European member of CERN nuclear research facility
(JNS.org) Israel may become the first non-European member of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Located on the Swiss-French border, CERN is most famous for its 27-kilometer Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator, which scientists used to discover the famous Higgs Boson or “God particle” last year.
CERN’s governing council of 20 European nations will vote on Israel’s membership when it meets Dec. 12.
“Scientists from around the world are aware of this and are very happy and excited,” Erez Etizion, a Tel Aviv University physicist who works at CERN, told Haaretz. “The lab is opening up to non-European countries and Israel was a natural candidate.”
More than 50 Israeli scientists and researchers from several top Israeli universities, including the Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, have helped design and work on projects at CERN over the years. Israel’s membership would give Israeli scientists and firms greater access to CERN projects.
ADL will no longer comply with Obama request not to lobby for Iran sanctions
(JNS.org) The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which previously said it would comply with the Obama Administration’s request of Jewish groups to halt their lobbying for new Iran sanctions while nuclear negotiations persist, changed its stance on the issue and called for additional sanctions.
ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said in a statement Monday that after the White House’s Oct. 29 meeting with Jewish leaders, he initially decided “to give the Obama Administration the benefit of the doubt in pursuing the diplomatic route and agreed to refrain from urging the Senate to impose additional sanctions for a short period of time to enable the U.S. to pursue diplomacy.”
But now, Foxman said he is “deeply troubled” by America’s reported offer of sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for the Islamic Republic suspending high-grade uranium enrichment (20 percent) for six months. Under the deal, Iran would still be able to enrich to 3.5 percent.
“I am now convinced that this agreement will not only prematurely roll back the sanctions regime, but that it would legitimize Iran as a threshold nuclear state. I believe we no longer have the luxury or the option to refrain from enacting additional sanctions against Iran,” Foxman said.
Sacha Baron Cohen prank ‘kills’ wheelchair-bound woman at acceptance speech
(JNS.org) British-Jewish comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, known for roles such as Borat, Bruno, and Ali G, pranked the audience of the 2013 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards.
Cohen came up to the stage to accept the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for comedy. A wheelchair-bound woman, who was introduced as the oldest surviving actor to have worked with Chaplin in a silent movie, granted Cohen a Chaplin-style cane.
Suddenly, Cohen’s cane broke and he fell, knocking the woman in her wheelchair into the audience. Eventually, the incident was revealed to be a stunt, but as the audience was still reeling from their shock, Cohen continued with a comedic acceptance speech.
“I dedicate my award to her. This is obviously a tragedy…. If you decide to get the lawyers involved, I will take you down just like I did your granny. The cane that woman forced on me was clearly defective and I’ve got lots of witnesses,” he said.
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