Congress approves US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act
(JNS.org) The U.S. Congress has approved the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, which, in addition to allowing Israelis to enter the U.S. without a visa for 90 days, would increase the value of emergency U.S. weaponry kept in Israel by $200 million to a total of $1.8 billion. The bill also promotes more cooperation between the U.S. and Israel in energy, environment technology, homeland security and more.
The bill passed with a voice vote in Congress and must now be signed by President Barack Obama to become law. The bill unanimously cleared the Senate in September.
However, it took about two years to agree on the language in the bill, especially regarding the visa issue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers it a crucial issue for Israelis to be able to enter the U.S. without a visa for 90 days along with the citizens of 38 other European and Asian nations. However the U.S. government has objected on the grounds that Israel does not allow some Palestinian-Americans and U.S. citizens of Arab origin to enter Israel for security reasons.
However, the U.S. government has formed a working group to help Israel move closer to qualification for visa-free status, while senior Israeli officials said they may allow Palestinian-Americans to begin entering the country through Ben-Gurion airport in the future.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who led the newly-passed bill, praised the Congress and the Senate for speaking “with one voice” on the issue of a closer partnership between the U.S. and its closest ally nation in the Middle East, the Associated Press reported.
Magen David Adom gets record $4.5 million at star-studded NYC gala
(JNS.org) A star-studded New York City gala raised a record of $4.5 million for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency response, ambulance and blood services organization.
Headlining the event hosted by the American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) was former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, NBC’s Willie Geist and journalist Barbara Walters, who was presented with the AFMDA’s Humanitarian Award for her “dedication to philanthropy and humanitarian causes.”
“This award matters because the honor comes from an organization which has made such an impact on people’s lives whether in Israel, a country that has a special place in all of our hearts, or other places around the world suffering from other disasters,” Walters said, in accepting the award.
The MDA is at the frontlines of many of Israel’s national tragedies, including the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Israel. MDA paramedic Akiva Pollack, who was a first emergency responder on the scene of the Jerusalem synagogue attack in Haf Nof last month, addressed the audience on his actions that day.
The MDA said most of the funds raised will go to building a new blood center in Israel. The current building was constructed in 1980. It can no longer serve Israel’s growing population and is vulnerable to terror attacks and natural disasters.
U.N. officials arrive in Gaza to investigate Israeli air strikes and agency’s rocket storage
(JNS.org) A team of United Nations investigators arrived in the Gaza Strip Tuesday to begin a three week investigation into Israeli air strikes on U.N. facilities during this summer’s war between the Jewish state and Hamas. The U.N. is also looking into how and why Hamas weapons were stored at several U.N. schools during the conflict.
“They are visiting the affected sites, they are conducting meetings and interviews with people who were involved,” Robert Turner, the director of operations for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza said, Reuters reported. “It is specifically to look at violations of neutrality of U.N. installations.”
During Operation Protective Edge in July and August of this year, Israeli artillery and tank shells hit at least six U.N. facilities in Gaza. Palestinian officials reported at least 30 casualties. Israel, however, has accused Hamas of using the U.N. facilities to store rockets and of using the facilities as a cover for the launching of the rockets at Israel. According to the Israel Defense Forces, since Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, more than 11,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel.
Although Israel is cooperating with the investigation, it will not cooperate with a separate inquiry into Israeli actions during the Gaza war by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which the Israeli government considers biased against the Jewish state.
Oil spill near Eilat dubbed ‘worst pollution in Israel’s history’
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli police closed off Highway 90 to the southern city of Eilat after an oil pipeline burst around 12 miles north of the city Thursday night, spilling millions of gallons of crude oil and prompting serious environmental concern for the entire area.
The Israeli Environmental Protection Ministry described the spill as “one of the worst cases of pollution in the history of the state.”
The pipeline is maintained by the Ashkelon-Eilat Pipeline Company. Three residents from Be’er Ora, 18 kilometers (12 miles) north of Eilat were in the vicinity when the spill occurred and were treated by medics for breathing difficulties.
The oil spill reached one of the most important nature reserves in the Arava area – the Evrona reserve – home to world’s northernmost doum palm trees and a significant gazelle population. As of midnight Wednesday, response teams had succeeded in preventing the spill from reaching Jordan.
Firefighters and hazardous materials disposal experts quickly deployed to the spill area out of fears that a stray spark could set a large swath of land ablaze, and carried out preventative measures. Environmental Protection Ministry officials and air and sea pollution experts also arrived on scene to assess the damages.
The soil contaminated by the oil will not be usable again, and even after being dried out will have to be disposed of in specially designed landfills.
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Alan Gross marks fifth year in Cuban jail
(JNS.org) Jewish-American prisoner Alan Gross marked his fifth year in a Cuban jail where his health has deteriorated drastically according to his family.
Gross, a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development who went to Cuba to help the Jewish community there access the Internet, was imprisoned in late 2009 for what the Cuban government called “crimes against the state.”
Marking the anniversary, his wife, Judy Gross made one last plea for his release.
“Enough is enough,” she said in a statement. “My husband has paid a terrible price for serving his country and community. Alan is resolved that he will not endure another year imprisoned in Cuba, and I am afraid that we are at the end. After five years of literally wasting away, Alan is done. It is time for President Obama to bring Alan back to the United States now; otherwise it will be too late.”
The White House also issued a statement calling on Cuba to release Gross, saying that they were “deeply concerned” about Gross’s health and that his release would “remove an impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba.”
The Cuban government has called for a prisoner swap for Gross in exchange for jailed Cuban spies. But the U.S. State Department has rejected that proposal.
Christians in Jaffa mark beginning of Christmas season
(JNS.org) Israeli Arab Christians in Jaffa marked the beginning of the Christmas season in the Holy Land with an annual Christmas tree lighting celebration earlier this week.
At the gathering in the ancient port city adjacent to Tel Aviv, men dressed up as Santa Claus met children, sang Christmas carols and lit fireworks.
Orthodox Christian leaders also addressed the crowd of Jewish, Muslim and Christian onlookers, using the occasion to promote unity among the three faiths.
“This is the best example for all the citizens of Israel to see how people can do things that we can really take people from all the natures, Jews, Muslims and put them together. This is the tree. I wish that this can bring peace to our land, to Israel, to Christians, Muslims and Jews,” said George Mansour, head of the Orthodox Christian scouts in Jaffa, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel has one of the few Christian communities left in the Middle East that is still growing, totaling roughly 161,000 people in 2013. According to the Pew Research Center, just 0.6 percent of the world’s 2.2 billion Christians now live in the Middle East and North Africa. Christians make up only 4 percent of the region’s total inhabitants, drastically down from 20 percent a century ago, making Middle East Christians the smallest regional Christian minority in the world.
Two Israelis hurt in Palestinian stabbing attack in supermarket
(JNS.org) Two people were stabbed Wednesday in a Rami-Levi supermarket branch in Mishor Adumim east of Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria.
The suspected terrorist, who was injured after being shot by a security guard, and two other Palestinian suspects, were arrested in connection with the attack.
The stabbing attack occurred just after 4 pm local time. One of the injured victims is a Magen David Adom paramedic who tried to subdue the terrorist. The injured victims were evacuated to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
Rami Levi, the owner of the supermarket chain, told Yedioth Achronoth, “I wish a speedy recovery to the wounded. They evacuated the terrorist and the victims and we’ll have the store open soon. We will not allow this to affect us and change our routine. We will prove to them that they will not beat us.”
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UN votes for Israel to renounce nuclear weapons as Iran runs for UN committee
(JNS.org) The U.N. General Assembly has approved an Egyptian proposed-resolution Tuesday calling on Israel to renounce its nuclear weapons and allow its nuclear facilities to be internationally monitored in a 161-5 vote. The resolution also generally called for a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.
The resolution titled “The Risk of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East” stated that Israel is the only Middle East country that is not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and should “accede to that treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons,” the Associated Press reported.
The United States, Canada, Palau and Micronesia opposed the resolution along with Israel. Eighteen countries abstained from the vote.
Israel has never confirmed that it possesses nuclear weapons. The Jewish state has also always opposed such a resolution on the grounds that a true peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians should be agreed upon first, and the fact that Iran’s nuclear program is the true regional nuclear threat.
Meanwhile Iran is trying to get a senior post on a U.N. committee that decides accreditation of non-governmental organizations, after being elected to the 19-member committee in April for a four-year term from 2015. Israel and the U.S. are also members.
“Imagine if Iran ran this committee in the same way it runs its country — human rights activists would be detained, journalists would be tortured, and anyone with a social media account would find himself arrested on fabricated charges,” Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told Reuters.
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