French kitchenware company’s website lists Israel as ‘Palestine’
(JNS.org) The French kitchenware company Tefal, which is known for its nonstick pans, is directing customers to “Palestine” for a store that is located in Israel.
Although Tefal’s Jerusalem store is located in the Atarot industrial zone, which is not under Palestinian sovereignty, the drop-down menu for the Middle East portion of the Tefal website’s “Where to buy” section lists “Palestine” as an option, but not “Israel.”
Newpan, the company that imports Tefal products to Israel, said the website issue “will be handled as soon as possible,” Israel Hayom reported.
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IDF officer: ‘continued instability’ expected on Israel’s northern front
(JNS.org) Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on Sunday replaced Maj. Gen. Yair Golan as General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Northern Command. Kochavi said a ceremony in Safed that Israel’s northern front, which he is now in charge of protecting, “is at the center of the storm raging in the Middle East.”
“This area shows the struggle between religions, ethnic groups, and superpowers, and has become more out of control, more Islamist, and more violent,” Kochavi said. “All of this ensures continued instability on the [northern] front. The radical axis of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah may be joined by other terrorist groups, drenched with ideological extremism, who could change their goals and turn the state of Israel into a target.”
Kochavi, the Israeli army’s former military intelligence chief, added that the IDF “must continue to prepare our forces… in a manner that will lead to a response that is surprising, powerful, and unequivocal in terms of its result.”
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Gaza rocket hits Israel for 2nd time since end of Operation Protective Edge
(JNS.org) A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza exploded east of the border fence in an open area in the Eshkol region of southern Israel on Friday night, marking the second Gaza rocket to hit the Jewish state since the Aug. 26 cease-fire that ended the summer war between Israel and Hamas.
No injuries or damage resulted from the rocket fire.
“It doesn’t matter to us who fired [the rocket], whether it was Hamas or a rogue group,” said Haim Yellin, head of the Eshkol Regional Council. “We demand a military response to rockets fired at the residents of Israel. The military accomplishments of Operation Protective Edge are disappearing and there is no diplomatic arrangement that will ensure true calm for the residents of the south and all of Israel.”
Hamas arrested five Palestinians suspected of involvement in the rocket fire after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, via Egypt, sent “unequivocal” messages to the Palestinian terrorist group governing Gaza, Israel Hayom reported. Hamas said it was not responsible for the rocket fire, and it remains unclear which terrorist group the five suspects belong to.
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Rock-throwers in Jerusalem could face up to 20 years in prison
(JNS.org) Against the backdrop of growing violence in Jerusalem in recent weeks, the Cabinet of Israel approved an amendment on Sunday that authorizes courts to sentence rock-throwers to up to 20 years in prison.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has held a number of emergency meetings on the escalation in violence in the capital, has instructed ministers to push legislation against rock-throwers.
“Israel is taking aggressive action against terrorists, against rock throwing, against firebombs, and against fireworks. … We will legislate even more aggressive laws on this issue in order to restore calm and security to all parts of Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
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Jewish gravestones used for construction in Belarus town
(JNS.org) The gravestones of a Jewish cemetery in the Belarusian town of Brest have been used as construction material for the past several years, the Daily Mail reported over the weekend.
“The headstones have been turning up in locations all over Brest over the past six years, with around 1,500 discovered so far,” the newspaper said.
In May, hundreds of gravestones were uncovered during the construction of a new supermarket. Debra Brunner, co-director of a charity that operates in the area, said she was shocked when she learned of this practice.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said. “It was bizarre. They were everywhere. The builders were very kind, though, and concerned and wanted to know what they should do with them.”
The gravestones were taken from a cemetery vandalized during the Soviet era, and residents were apparently unaware of the purpose the stones served.
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Jewish group to Kerry’s wife’s foundation: disavow grant to anti-Israel eatery
(JNS.org) The head of Heinz Endowments, a foundation chaired by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz, wrote a letter to a Jewish organization that criticized the anti-Israel activity of one of the foundation’s recently revealed grant recipients.
In an Oct. 31 statement on the correspondence, B’nai B’rith International called on Heinz Endowments to go further by issuing a “public disavowal” of its $50,000 grant to Pittsburgh-based snack bar Conflict Kitchen, which sells sandwiches wrapped in paper bearing anti-Israel slogans. B’nai B’rith leaders had contacted the foundation to express concern over the grant.
In a letter responding to B’nai B’rith, Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant attempted to disassociate the foundation from Conflict Kitchen’s anti-Israel food wrappers.
“I want to be especially clear that [Conflict Kitchen’s] current program on Palestine was not funded by the endowments and we would not fund such a program, precisely because it appears to be terribly at odds with the mission of promoting understanding,” Oliphant wrote, adding that Heinz “emphatically does not agree with or support” the food wrappers’ anti-Israel sentiments.
Conflict Kitchen says it 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 anti-Israel food wrappers includes quotes such as, “How can you compare Israeli F-16s, which are some of the best military planes in the world, to a few hundred homemade rockets?”
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Israeli defense company unveils maritime version of Iron Dome system
(JNS.org) Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems unveiled a new version of the highly successful Iron Dome anti-missile system called “C-Dome,” which will serve to protect maritime interests such as naval ships or oil and gas platforms.
Rafael unveiled the new system at the Euronaval conference near Paris this week. According to the state-owned defense contractor, the new system would protect against threats from the air including missiles, helicopters, and drone aircraft.
“C-dome offers something that is not out there [in the market] yet … A small footprint and the capability to engage multiple targets and saturation threats. And it’s based on the only system in the world that has more than 1,000 intercepts,” said Rafael program director Ari Sacher, the Associated Press reported.
“We can protect the ship from every direction at the same time,” he said. “Most systems out there can’t do that.”
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Hezbollah reportedly under severe strain from Syrian civil war
(JNS.org) The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah is under severe strain from its involvement in the Syrian civil war and from increasing attacks inside of Lebanon from Syrian jihadists.
According to reports, as many as 5,000 Hezbollah fighters are thought to be in Syria, and hundreds of them have been killed fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Hezbollah is spread thin. They are waging so many battles and are positioned on so many fronts,” Imad Salamey, associate professor of political science at the Beirut-based Lebanese American University, told the Washington Post.
At the same time, jihadists from the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terror groups are spilling into Lebanon and launching attacks against Hezbollah strongholds, including a bloody attack on Oct. 5 that killed eight Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
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