After anti-Israel slur, Turkey’s Erdogan thanks Israel for mine disaster response
(JNS.org) In a rare conciliatory remark, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Israel on Tuesday for showing compassion and sensitivity following last week’s mine disaster in the town of Soma.
In his weekly address to fellow party members, Erdogan thanked Israel for canceling the Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) events planned by the Israeli embassy in Ankara as Turkey mourned the 301 victims of the mine fire, according to Israel Hayom.
Commentators speculated that Erdogan’s conciliatory tone stemmed from his desire to minimize the damage caused by recent video footage in which the Turkish prime minister is seen derogatorily calling a protester a “Israeli semen.”
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Pope Francis to lay wreath on Theodor Herzl’s grave
(JNS.org) Pope Francis will lay a wreath on Theodor Herzl’s grave in Jerusalem during his historic visit to Israel next week, signifying the change in the papacy’s attitude toward Israel, reported Israel Hayom. When Herzl approached then-Pope Pius X for support in establishing a Jewish state 110 years ago, he was denied outright.
Meanwhile, Israel has no plans to change ownership of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion, despite the Vatican’s push for Israel to hand over the Cenacle—the room where the Last Supper took place—to the Catholic Church.
“No change has been made nor is any change to the status quo expected—and there has been no transfer of the [ownership] rights of any prayer areas from one religion to another,” the Prime Minister’s Office and Israeli Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
The clarification was made amid rumors that Israel had agreed to give the Cenacle to the Vatican. Lior Haiat, a Foreign Ministry official who is handling public diplomacy for the papal visit, told JNS.org last week that rumors surrounding a transfer of sovereignty over the Last Supper room were “untrue.”
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Sen. Menendez withdraws U.S.-Israel cooperation bill over Iran amendment
(JNS.org) The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), reportedly withdrew the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 over the intention of committee member U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) to include an amendment requiring Congressional oversight of the Iranian nuclear talks.
The legislation in question would have increased cooperation between Israel and the U.S. in the areas of defense, energy, security, and intelligence. The added amendment would have mandated Congressional hearings whenever the U.S. and the P5+1 powers reach a deal with Iran on its nuclear program.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) had expressed support for the Congressional oversight amendment, reported Foreign Policy magazine. But critics say the amendment would have forced Democrats to make an uncomfortable choice between opposing Israel supporters who are skeptical of a deal with Iran, or opposing the White House in its negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
The amendment “politicizes” the strategic relationship between Israel and the U.S., one senator’s aide told Foreign Policy.
“This is the right bill for the right time as the United States and Israel continue to make advances in technology, homeland security, agriculture, and other areas. It is not the appropriate vehicle to legislate on Iran,” said the aide.
The withdrawal of the legislation by Menendez is considered somewhat surprising given that the senator is known as a hawk on Iran. At the AIPAC conference in March, Menendez said he supports a diplomatic process with Iran, but that he is troubled that the international community “seems to want any deal more than it wants a good deal.”
“It is hard to see how simply requiring Congressional review of any final deal with Iran is a difficult call for Democrats or Republicans, especially given this administration’s track record of obfuscation and shifting goalposts with respect to the negotiations,” a different Senate aide told the Washington Free Beacon.
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Maccabi Tel Aviv Euroleague win spurs Spanish anti-Semitic tweets
(JNS.org) In the wake of Maccavi Tel Aviv’s win over Real Madrid in the Euroleague basketball finals on Sunday, an estimated 18,000 anti-Semitic Spanish tweets were posted. The Jewish community in Catalonia, Spain, now plans to file a legal complaint on the tweets.
The tweets, many using the hashtag #putosjudios (f******g Jews), included statements such as “F****** Jews. This didn’t happen under Hitler,” “F****** Jews… they should stick you all in an oven. F******BASTARDS!” and “F****** Israel and f****** jews. I have always said that and I’ll carry on saying it,” reported Haaretz.
The ensuing lawsuit, which will be filed by the Jewish community of Barcelona and other local Jewish organizations, identifies five people who tweeted many of the anti-Semitic statements, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“The majority of the remainder of the messages were anonymous,” said Jai Anguita, president of Bet Shalom, the name for the Jewish community of Barcelona.
“I am a firm defender of freedom of expression, but there must be a limit,” he added. “We could say that these comments come from the high spirits after a [sporting] defeat, that they are almost jokes… But history has shown us where these jokes can lead… Some of them talk about sending Jews to a gas chamber. We cannot allow for this to snowball; we need to stop giving the impression that incitement to hatred is permitted.”
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IDF welcomes first female Christian officer
(JNS.org) Yasmin Chayach this week became the first Christian woman to complete the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer’s training course, the IDF said.
Chayach, who is from Acre, follows in the footsteps of her brother, who also served in the IDF.
The Chayach family is part of a growing movement of Israeli Christians who are volunteering for military service. Christian enlistment in the IDF tripled in 2013.
“We salute to Yasmin and all cadets who have completed the officer’s course this week,” the IDF said on its Facebook page.
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Israel sends intelligence experts to help search for Nigerian schoolgirls
(JNS.org) Israel has sent a team of intelligence experts to Nigeria to help the government find the nearly 300 schoolgirls who were abducted by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in April.
The team, which was already dispatched last week, includes experts in hostage situations, an Israeli government official said.
“These are not operational troops, they’re there to advise,” an anonymous Israeli official told Reuters.
Israel has longstanding warm ties with several sub-Saharan African nations, including Nigeria. Last year, Israel inked a bilateral aviation deal with Nigeria during a state visit by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Thousands of Nigerian Christians regularly make pilgrimages to Israel’s holy sites, while Israeli aid and technology experts help with development in the region.
Israel also sent a team of experts to Kenya last fall when Islamic terrorists attacked a shopping mall in Nairobi.
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