Arab man tries to breach Iron Dome battery
(JNS.org) Israeli soldiers shot and wounded an Arab man who tried to breach the perimeter of an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery in Eilat on Thursday, Israel Hayom reported.
The man, a resident of Haifa, approached the Iron Dome battery unarmed and was ordered by soldiers to stop. According to the preliminary investigation, the man did not obey the soldiers’ commands. Ultimately, they fired in his direction, and one round hit the man in the lower back.
“The soldiers performed the suspect arrest procedure. Only after the man did not listen to the [soldiers’] commands, they fired at him,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
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IAF strikes Gaza terror sites in response to rocket fire
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli Air Force struck three terror sites in the Gaza Strip early Friday in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said.
IAF aircraft targeted a terror activity site and a weapons-manufacturing facility in northern Gaza, as well as a weapons storage facility in southern Gaza, the IDF said.
“Israelis cannot be held at the mercy of these hideous terrorists operating from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. “The bases of Gaza terrorism and its industry of death will not be immune while our citizens are being attacked. It is our responsibility, right and obligation to defend Israel from Gaza-based aggression.”
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NY bill cuts state funding to colleges boycotting Israel
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The New York State Assembly on Jan. 28 passed a bill to halt government funding to academic institutions supporting a boycott on Israel. The vote passed 56-4.
The bill was drafted by Democratic New York State Senator Jeffrey Klein in response to the American Studies Association’s recent decision to boycott Israel and Israeli academic institutions.
In Norway, however, the wave of boycotts on Israeli companies continues. The Norway Fund, which invests the country’s oil revenue, reinstated its boycott of two Israeli companies: Africa Israel and Danya Cebus. The organization claimed it was boycotting the two firms for their involvement in construction in the West Bank.
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Jewish leaders praise retiring Congressman Henry Waxman
(JNS.org) Jewish leaders praised U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who on Thursday announced his intent to retire, for his contributions to the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Waxman, who represented southern California for 20 terms in the U.S. House, noted that the extreme partisanship in Congress played a role in his retirement. So far, more than 30 prominent members of the House have announced that they are not running for re-election at the end of the year.
“Henry Waxman has devoted his career to fulfilling the Jewish concept of tikkun olam— repairing the world. In ensuring the safety of food and drugs, working to promote affordable health care, and being a stalwart leader in building a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,” said William Daroff, director of the Washington Office of the Jewish Federations of North America.
The head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Rabbi Jack Moline, said he was “saddened” by the news of Waxman’s retirement.
“Known as the ‘Dean of the Jewish Delegation,’ Waxman has been a champion of Jewish causes—Clean Air Act, climate change, food and drug safety, affordable health care, the plight of Holocaust survivors and the US-Israel relationship,” Moline said.
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Art looted during Holocaust should be returned, Jewish leader Lauder urges
(JNS.org) World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder on Thursday urged German officials in Berlin to work toward returning Nazi-looted art to its rightful Jewish owners. The art pieces “are the last prisoners of World War II…They should be returned to the victims of the Holocaust and their heirs,” Lauder said, according to the Associated Press.
Lauder said many of the stolen art pieces still hang in German museums today. In 2012, more than 1,400 works of art were discovered in the Munich apartment belonging to the son of a Nazi-era art dealer. An international commission investigating and helping return the artworks to relatives of the original owners “should have real power, so that museums that have avoided transparency up until now, will be required to do the research under its auspices in accordance with international standards,” Lauder said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany’s top cultural affairs official, Monica Gruetters, said the country is seeking to double its €14.5 million ($19.7 million) state funding dedicated to the search for Nazi-looted art. It is “unbearable that there is still Nazi-looted art in German museums,” she said.
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Knesset Christian allies caucus, World Jewish Congress honor Israeli Christian leader
(JNS.org) The Israeli Knesset’s Christian allies caucus and the World Jewish Congress honored Greek Orthodox Father Gabriel Nadaf at a special ceremony on Wednesday night in Jerusalem.
“Christians have to be a part of the State of Israel. They are citizens and so they have to be partners in everything that happens in the state. We have to encourage and adore you,” Likud MK David Rotem, a member of the Christian allies caucus, said at the dinner, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Father Nadaf has been an outspoken proponent of Christian integration into Israeli society. He has encouraged Christians in Israel to enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces through setting up the “Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum.”
But Nadaf has also received significant criticicism from some in the Israeli Arab community. Late last year, his son was allegedly attacked over his father’s views.
“We are Israeli Christians living as a minority among a minority of Arabs,” Nadaf said.
“We have good relations with the Jewish community,” he said. “This is a cause of great pride for me. I am here to open the eyes of the [Christian] community. It is up to us to say ‘enough.’ The Christian community wants to integrate into Israeli society and opposes the stances of its leadership, which is not interested in doing so.”
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Christian Zionist group sponsors latest immigration wave of India’s Bnei Menashe
(JNS.org) The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), a Christian Zionist organization based in Jerusalem, has sponsored the immigration of another wave of members of India’s Bnei Menashe “lost tribe” to Israel, reuniting them with their families and ancestral homeland.
The Bnei Menashe is a community located in northeastern India whose members claim to descend from the tribe of Manasseh, one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel. While some have doubted their connection to Judaism, in 2005, Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi recognized the group as descendants of one of the lost tribes, paving the way for them to immigrate to Israel under the Right of Return law. But due to their long interruption from Judaism, they were required to undergo conversion.
“We have been waiting eagerly to come home to our ancestral lands,” said Elyashiv Khupchwang, a young Bnei Menashe father. “I am so proud of this moment and feel such peace about finally making it home.”
According to the ICEJ, the recent wave of Bnei Menashe began arriving in late December. The final of four flights of Bnei Menashe arrived on Monday morning, carrying an additional 40 people, putting the recent total at 160.
David Parsons, the media spokesman for ICEJ, explained that once the immigrants finish Hebrew-language classes and the conversion process, they will be moved into their own apartments in the Galilee.
“The Bnei Menashe have shown incredible patience and determination in their desire to rejoin the Jewish people back in the Land of Israel. It is our privilege to assist them in realizing the hope of so many generations to return to Zion,” Parsons told JNS.org.
The ICEJ said it expects to be able to bring another 300 Bnei Menashe later this year or next. Some 2,000 Bnei Menashe are living in Israel now, with about 7,000 Bnei Menashe are still awaiting immigration.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org