Netanyahu approves construction of 1,060 new homes in Jerusalem
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a directive on Monday to advance the construction of more than 1,000 new housing units in Jerusalem. According to the plan, 660 apartments will be built in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood and 400 will be built in Har Homa.
Ramat Shlomo is a neighborhood in northern Jerusalem, situated between Ramot Alon and Shuafat, and Har Homa is a neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem. Both neighborhoods are located beyond the pre-1967 lines.
Netanyahu is also pushing plans to build and improve infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, including roads and water facilities, to provide better security, safety, and accessibility to the Jewish and Palestinian populations in the area.
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Ministers approve 5-year prison term for Israelis joining Islamic State
(JNS.org) Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday unanimously approved a bill that would penalize Israeli citizens and residents who join foreign militias such as the Islamic State terror group. The bill stipulates a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The bill, proposed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnuah), authorizes the defense minister to decide which groups fall under the jurisdiction of the proposed law. Its initiation comes against the backdrop of recent reports of Israeli Arabs traveling to Syria to join armed groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Some of these groups are considered to pose a security threat to Israel.
“Israel, like any other country, has the right to defend itself against radical Islamic terrorism,” Livni said.
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Former Spanish prime minister slams European recognition of ‘Palestine’
(JNS.org) Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar spoke out against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
“The Palestinian state does not exist yet and the Gaza Strip is still controlled by Hamas, but many nations are already moving to recognize it,” he said. “The Swedish government announced it would recognize Palestine, the British Parliament voted to recognize it, and we should expect similar moves to be made throughout Europe. Regardless of good intentions, recognizing a Palestinian state is not appropriate, not helpful, and wrong. It will not promote peace and will only cause the Palestinians to back away from an agreed-upon solution.”
Aznar added that Israel “has been harassed by neighbor states and terrorist groups, and subsequently offered concessions to reach a fair peace agreement and was only met with refusal from the Palestinian Authority.”
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Kerry’s wife’s foundation funded anti-Israel eatery, report reveals
(JNS.org) Conflict Kitchen, a Pittsburgh snack bar that sells sandwiches wrapped in paper printed with pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans, received a $50,000 grant from a foundation run by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s wife, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The wrappers bearing the anti-Israel slogans also indicate that the take-out restaurant is supported in part by the Heinz Endowment, chaired by Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Conflict Kitchen, located near Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, aims to use its menu to teach students about conflict between the U.S. and the countries it features in its cuisine selection. The information spread via the Palestinian food wrappers includes quotes defending terrorism against Israel. One wrapper reads, “How can you compare Israeli F-16s, which are some of the best military planes in the world, to a few hundred homemade rockets?”
Another reads, “Palestinians are not going to just let [Israel] in and drop their arms. No, they’re going to kill and they are going to die.”
A Heinz Endowment spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon that it gave the snack bar the grant last April to help fund its relocation to another site in Pittsburgh. He did not say whether or not the endowment would continue to support Conflict Kitchen in the future, but stressed that “the opinions of Conflict Kitchen do not represent those of the Heinz Endowment.”
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Israeli minister promises to seal home of terrorist who attacked light rail
(JNS.org) Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Friday visited the bereaved parents and grandfather of Chaya Zissel Braun, the 3-month-old baby girl who was killed last week in a hit-and-run Arab terrorist attack on Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill light rail station.
“I promise you I will take steps to punish the family of the murderer, even by shutting and [eventually] demolishing his home,” Aharonovitch said.
Sources close to Aharonovitch said that he would prefer to issue an order to demolish the home, but decided to seal off the building since that was a step that could be taken immediately, as opposed to issuing a demolition order that could encounter legal difficulties because the terrorist is a resident of eastern Jerusalem.
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Anti-Israel resolution fails in CUNY doctoral students’ vote
(JNS.org) A resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions failed Friday in a vote by the Doctoral Students Council (DSC) of the City University of New York (CUNY), garnering 31 out of the 39 votes it needed for passage.
In September, the same resolution was tabled after a vote on the measure had been scheduled for just before the start of Shabbat, leading to the exclusion of a number of pro-Israel individuals who would have otherwise participated in the debate.
“The resolution’s backers claimed they were promoting justice and human rights, that they were seeking sovereignty and freedom for the Palestinian people, that they are trying to end the ‘occupation.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” wrote Jacob Baime, executive director of the Israel on Campus Coalition, wrote in an op-ed for JNS.org.
“The hate-mongers who want CUNY to boycott Israeli universities are part of the problem,” he wrote. “They are an obstacle to peace.”
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Israeli genealogy website MyHeritage to partner with DNA firm 23andMe
(JNS.org) The Israeli start-up MyHeritage, one of the world’s largest genealogy research websites, has announced a strategic collaboration with personal genetics company 23andMe, the largest DNA ancestry service in the world.
MyHeritage offers users around the world tools to trace their ancestry, and to build and share their family trees. It offers a library of more than 5.5 billion historical records, and this week announced on its website that it has added millions of historical records—ranging from the 16th to the 20th centuries—to its SuperSearch tool.
Based in Mountain View, Calif., 23andMe pioneered autosomal DNA ancestry analysis for consumers. Clients supply a saliva sample, which is then analyzed to reveal their ancestors’ geographic origins.
“Combining genealogy with DNA-based ancestry is the next evolution in uncovering family history,” MyHeritage founder and CEO Gilad Japhet said.
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