Former PM Yitzhak Shamir’s son: ‘Not enough space’ for Palestinian state
(JNS.org) Israeli Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir, the son of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, said in an interview published Friday by Israel Hayom that there is “not enough space” for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“There is not enough space here for two nations,” Shamir said. “If the space were larger, maybe we could find the right formula. But here, the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is not enough to allow them to establish a state.”
“Let’s say we gave [the Palestinians] a state,” he continued. “It means that they would always fight over the space so that they could establish a real state, with a route to the sea, with airspace. Do you know what? Even with room for a major hospital. Look at this area, and you tell me: Where is there room for another state?”
Netanyahu to sign high-tech deal on Silicon Valley visit
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit California’s Silicon Valley next week to meet with technology executives and sign an economic cooperation deal with California.
During the one-day visit, Netanyahu is expected to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with California Governor Jerry Brown to promote economic relations.
“The agreement aims to expand and strengthen cultural, academic, and economic ties, as well as promote innovation, with an emphasis on water conservation, alternative energy, cyber defense, biotechnology, health, agritech, and higher education,” Globes reported. The deal will also give Israel access to California’s Innovation Hub (iHub) program, which includes access to 16 high-tech clusters in California.
Netanyahu will also meet with founder of WhatsApp, which was just purchased by Facebook for $19 billion, as well as executives from Apple, Flextronics, LinkedIn, and eBay.
The prime minister will travel to California after a stop in Washington, D.C., to meet with President Barack Obama and members of Congress, and attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference.
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IAEA nixed report on Iran’s nuclear program
(JNS.org) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, reportedly nixed a sensitive report on the Iranian nuclear program last year over fears that it would anger Iran amid negotiations with world powers.
A source told Reuters that the new report would have probably included “updated information on possible military dimensions (PMD),” which could have “reinforced concern” about Iran. The report would have included extra details about alleged research and experiments that were originally covered in a November 2011 report by the IAEA.
The November 2011 IAEA report said the agency found information that Iran was carrying out tests that could be used to develop a nuclear bomb trigger.
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Syrian jihadist group forces local Christians to submit to Islam or face death
(JNS.org) A powerful Syrian jihadist group with links to al-Qaeda has forced Christian leaders in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa to sign a contract of submission and enter into the medieval Islamic term as “dhimmis” in exchange for their protection.
The jihadist group—Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), which is mostly composed of foreign terrorists—is widely considered to be the most radical group fighting in the Syrian Civil War.
According to the document, which was posted on a Twitter account of a member of the ISIL, Christians in Raqqa were given the choices to convert to Islam, remain Christian, but submit to Islam, or face death.
According to Islamic law or “shariah,” Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule must pay a tax or “jizya” in return for protection, and become “dhimmis.”
The document also demands that Christians must not make renovations to churches or display religious symbols, own weapons or sell pork or wine to Muslims. Finally, it demands that every Christian man must pay a tax of up to 17 grams of gold, a tax that was common during the Middle Ages on Christians.
According to AFP, ISIL also imposed similar rules on Iraqi Christians during the Iraq War.
“If they adhere to these conditions, they will be close to God and receive the protection of Mohammed his prophet… none of their religious rights will be detracted nor will a priest or monk be wronged,” the document stated, the Times of Israel reported.
“But if they disobey any of the conditions, they are no longer protected and ISIS can treat them in a hostile and warlike fashion,” it said.
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PA President Mahmoud Abbas calls Kerry framework proposal ‘insanity’
(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas was reportedly angered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal to form a Palestinian capital in only the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, and not all of eastern Jerusalem. Abbas and Kerry spent two days in Paris negotiating the terms for a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kerry also proposed a possible territorial exchange that would grant Israel the right to go ahead with 10 Jewish community construction projects in the disputed territories. Kerry did not include the Jordan Valley as part of a future Palestinian state, but agreed not to put an international security force in the area. Kerry reiterated the core U.S. demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Quds reported that Abbas called Kerry’s proposal “insanity” and threatened to “overturn tables.” On Wednesday, Kerry admitted that the current peace talks will likely go on beyond their April deadline. “Then we get into the final negotiations. I don’t think anybody would worry if there’s another nine months, or whatever it’s going to be… But that’s not defined yet,” he said.
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Jewish leader urges Netanyahu, Ya’alon to send forces to protect Ukrainian Jews
(JNS.org) General Director of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to send Israeli security forces to protect the Ukrainian Jewish community.
In a letter, Margolin expressed the helplessness experienced by Ukrainian Jews in the wake of a Molotov cocktail attack against a synagogue in Zaporozhye, a phone threat against a rabbi, and anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled in various locations. These incidents, although not directly connected to ongoing protests in Ukraine, came amid the past week’s violence in the country and the toppling of President Viktor Yanukovych.
“Community reports indicate an alarming, and increasingly violent, trend of hatred towards Jewish targets—and so far, there’s been no reaction… The challenge is clear and the State must help to take security measures for what has become a Jewish emergency,” Margolin wrote, Haaretz reported.
In the meantime, interim Ukrainian President Oleksander Tuchynov pledged Wednesday to protect the Ukrainian Jewish community in a meeting with the country’s chief rabbi, Yaakov Dov Bleich, according to Israel Radio. Nevertheless, Margolin in his letter urged Netanyahu and Ya’alon “to take every possible step, including dispatching security guards, to secure the safety of Jewish communities in Ukraine.”
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Preceding provided by JNS.org
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