While Roger Waters targets Johansson, SodaStream CEO ‘proud’ of Israeli factory
(JNS.org) SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum, whose company aired a Super Bowl commercial featuring Jewish-American actress Scarlett Johansson on Sunday, said he is “very proud” of his company’s presence in Israel.
“We are very proud of our factory in Mishor Adumim,” Birnbaum said. “It is important to understand that this is an operation that employs both Israelis and Palestinians. All the workers in our company have equal rights. We call it an ‘island of peace.’”
Leading up to the Super Bowl, pro-Palestinian activists and the anti-hunger group Oxfam International criticized Johansson for serving as SodaStream’s pitch woman, prompting Johansson to end her role as a global ambassador for Oxfam.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, anti-Israel activist and former Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters slammed Johansson for choosing SodaStream over Oxfam. The post by Waters also targeted musician Neil Young, who plans to perform in Tel Aviv in July.
“Scarlett, you are undeniably cute, but if you think SodaStream is building bridges towards peace you are also undeniably not paying attention,” Waters said.
SodaStream’s Birnbaum said, “Despite all the attempts to boycott us, we have received a whirlwind of support and sympathy.”
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IDF seeks budget increase in 2015
(JNS.org) The Knesset Subcommittee for the Defense Budget convened Sunday to discuss a request by the Israel Defense Forces to increase its 2015 budget by 2.75 billion shekels ($781 million), which would bring the overall defense budget for next year to NIS 64 billion ($18 billion), Israel Hayom reported.
The committee, which includes members from the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense and Finance committees, was presented with the military’s multi-year work plan, which has already been approved by Israel’s security cabinet.
“The data presented by the IDF indicates that it will not be able to meet its needs. We will probably have to increase the budget,” Finance Committee Chairman MK Nissan Slomiansky (Habayit Hayehudi) said Sunday.
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Kerry under fire for linking boycotts of Israel to negotiations with Palestinians
(JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was criticized for saying Israel would face more boycotts if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations he is brokering fail.
“You see, for Israel, there’s an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it. There is talk of boycotts and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?” Kerry said Saturday at the annual Munich Security Conference.
“Today’s status quo absolutely, to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained,” he said. “It’s not sustainable. It’s illusionary. There’s a momentary prosperity, there’s a momentary peace. … But the fact is the status quo will change if there is failure. So everybody has a stake in trying to find the pathway to success.”
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz called Kerry’s words “intolerable” and said Israel “would not negotiate with a gun to our heads.” Housing Minister Uri Ariel said, “The only illusions are the peace slogans Kerry is trying to pawn off on Israel. The Palestinians cannot believe their good fortune, ending up with such an ‘impartial’ mediator.”
“Kerry’s threats of an unprecedented boycott are an attempt to terrorize Israel into agreeing to a dangerous deal,” said Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely. “A deal that would pose a security risk to Israel is worse than any boycott.”
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Chief Palestinian negotiator: We were in Israel before the Jews
(JNS.org) The Palestinians cannot accept Israel as the Jewish state because they lived in the region long before the Jews, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said over the weekend, Israel Hayom reported.
Speaking with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni at the Munich Security Conference, Erekat rejected the Israeli request that the Palestinians recognize it as the Jewish homeland.
“When you say, ‘Accept Israel as a Jewish state,’ you are asking me to change my narrative,” he said.
Erekat justified his claim by saying his ancestors were the real descendants of the Canaanities and lived in the area for “5,500 years before Joshua Bin-Nun came and burned my hometown, Jericho.”
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French Jews hold massive pro-Israel rally in Paris
(JNS.org) As anti-Semitism rises in France, the country’s Jewish community held a major rally in central Paris on Sunday. The Jewish National Fund (JNF), the Israeli Foreign, Defense, Tourism, Agriculture and Immigrant Absorption ministries, and other donors funded the event.
Titled “Israel Today and Tomorrow,” the rally was the brainchild of the JNF’s chief emissary in France, Reuven Naamat, and gathered 15,000 demonstrators, among them Jewish community leaders from across France, Israeli government ministers, and JNF Chairman Efi Stenzler.
“Just last week, on International Holocaust Memorial Day, we saw the latest statistics portraying the large number of anti-Semitic incidents in France over the past year,” said Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon at the rally. “Before the European diplomats lecture us on how to conduct ourselves in our historic homeland, they should first focus on ending the age-old bigotry of anti-Semitism in their own backyards.”
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Kerry’s forthcoming peace plan draws criticism for Judea and Samaria withdrawal
(JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s soon-to-be-revealed framework for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians is drawing significant criticism for its rumored proposals concerning Israel’s withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.
In a conversation with Jewish leaders, Martin Indyk, the top U.S. envoy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict talks, confirmed that Kerry’s plan would be presented within weeks and would not include any surprises. Indyk added that approximately 75-80 percent of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria would be able to remain in Israel through land swaps. But Dani Dayan—head of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria—called Indyk’s vision “extremely misleading.”
“When Indyk speaks of 80 percent of our communities remaining under Israeli rule, he is including eastern Jerusalem, which would mean the forceful uprooting and eviction of up to 150,000 Israelis from their homes,” Dayan said.
Retired ambassador Yoram Ettinger, the former minister for Congressional Affairs at Israel’s Embassy in Washington, DC, believes it may be in Israel’s best interest to reject Kerry’s plan because by ceding the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria, the plan would reduce Israel to a “sliver along the Mediterranean.”
“Accepting the Kerry Plan requires the subordination of long-term vision and security to short-term convenience… Rejecting the Kerry Plan might create short-term tension, but no long-term rift. On a rainy day, the U.S. prefers a defiant, rather than a submissive, ally,” Ettinger wrote in an op-ed for Israel Hayom.
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IDF: Dramatic increase in Gaza rockets in January
(JNS.org) January saw a dramatic increase in Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, according to the latest figures released by the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF said Gaza terrorists have launched 28 rockets at Israel since the beginning of 2014. This nearly triples the monthly rocket fire directed at Israel during the last six months of 2013.
Of the 28 rockets, 14 landed in southern Israel and five were intercepted by the Iron Dome system, said the IDF.
The increased Gaza rocket fire is the latest growing threat for southern Israel. Terrorists operating in Egypt’s unstable Sinai Peninsula have also targeted Israel with rockets.
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‘Seinfeld’ reunion show in the works, Jerry Seinfeld says
(JNS.org) Jewish-American comedian and sitcom star Jerry Seinfeld confirmed speculation that his 1990s hit show Seinfeld might return for a short reunion show.
During an appearance on a New York City radio station, WFAN, Seinfeld confirmed rumors that he was filming when recently spotted with actor Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on the show, outside Tom’s Restaurant in New York City, which frequently appeared on the show as Monk’s Café.
According to Jerry Seinfeld, former Seinfeld producer Larry David is involved in the possible reunion.
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IAF strikes Gaza terror sites in response to rocket fire
(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.
“The bases of Gaza terrorism and its industry of death will not be immune while our citizens are being attacked,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. “It is our responsibility, right and obligation to defend Israel from Gaza-based aggression.”
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Jewish leaders praise retiring Congressman Henry Waxman
(JNS.org) Jewish leaders on Thursday praised U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who announced his intent to retire, for his contributions to the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Waxman represented southern California for 20 terms in the House.
“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,” William Daroff, director of the Washington Office of the Jewish Federations of North America, said.
Waxman has been a champion of Jewish causes such as “the plight of Holocaust survivors and the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Rabbi Jack Moline, head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Rabbi Jack Moline.
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