Israel won’t release terrorists in return for Israelis held in Gaza, official says
(JNS.org) Israel has “no intention of releasing terrorists in exchange for the two citizens who entered Gaza,” an Israeli security official said Thursday after a gag order was lifted to reveal that two Israelis have been held by the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip for 10 months.
“On the one hand, the state is committed to protecting them because they are Israeli citizens, but on the other hand, these are not soldiers who were kidnapped. They are two mentally unstable individuals who crossed into Gaza voluntarily. This is not a classic abduction, it is something different. This incident is on a humanitarian level,” the official said, Israel Hayom reported.
Avera Mengistu, 28, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, is being held in Gaza after crossing the border fence into Gaza last September. It was also revealed that a mentally unstable Israeli Bedouin crossed the border fence in April and is being held by Hamas. His identity remains under a gag order.
The family of the missing Bedouin has denied that he is being held by Hamas, claiming that he has entered Gaza several times in the past and has always returned.
*
Israeli government to form Jewish denominations roundtable
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday told Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit to put together a special forum to discuss religious issues affecting the different streams of Judaism. The decision follows Religious Services Minister David Azoulay’s recent controversial remarks that he does not consider Reform Jews to be Jewish.
The forum will include representatives from all religious streams, from haredi through Conservative to Reform, and will be headed by Mandelblit and by Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky.
The forum “aims to facilitate an open dialogue between the denominations, and avoid actions and remarks that would undermine the fragile fabric of life formed between them,” a source in the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Azoulay had told Army Radio, “A Reform Jew, from the moment he stops following Jewish law, I cannot say he is a Jew.” Netanyahu reprimanded Azoulay, saying he rejects the minister’s “hurtful remarks about Reform Judaism, which do not reflect the government’s position.”
“I have spoken with Minister Azoulay to remind him that Israel is the home of all Jews, and that as minister of religious services, he serves all Israelis,” Netanyahu said.
*
Tens of thousands of Christians urge world powers to take firm line in Iran talks
(JNS.org) Tens of thousands of Christians signed on to a global petition organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) urging world powers involved in the Iranian nuclear negotiations to take a firm line with Iran.
The petition calls on the Western powers involved in the talks—U.S., U.K., France, and Germany (not including the non-Western P5+1 countries, Russia and China)—as well as the European Union and United Nations to “hold firm in demanding the complete dismantling of the Iranian nuclear facilities until any sanctions relief is given to Tehran.”
Specifically, the petition calls for Iran to completely dismantle its nuclear program and for sanctions to remain in place until the Islamic Republic “relinquishes its destructive goals of spreading terrorism, destroying Israel, and achieving regional hegemony.”
According to the ICEJ, more than 80,000 Christians from dozens of countries worldwide signed on to the petition, which was delivered to the foreign ministers of the Western countries involved in the nuclear talks.
“While we appreciate the ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, we fear the agreement now under consideration will not prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons,” the petition says. “It contains too many concessions given the enormity of this threat and the untrustworthy nature of the Iranian regime. We feel we must speak up before it is too late, for the safety of ourselves and our children.”
*
Iranian media report: U.S. position on sanctions holding up nuclear deal
(JNS.org) An Iranian media report suggests that negotiations over a nuclear deal have been deadlocked due to a U.S. refusal to recognize Iran’s “rights.”
“While the Iranian team is showing flexibility, the Americans are refusing to accept Iran’s obvious right, particularly on sanctions,” Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency quoted an unnamed source as saying, Reuters reported.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that world powers are not in a rush to get a deal done. The negotiations have missed the July 9 deadline set by Congress for a 30-day review period, meaning that a longer 60-day review period will take effect. Iran’s Press TV reported Friday that the nuclear talks might be extended until July 13.
“We’re here because we believe we are making real progress,” Kerry said in Vienna. “We will not rush and we will not be rushed.”
Kerry added that if tough decisions are not made, “we are absolutely prepared to call an end to this process.”
Meanwhile, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said the Jewish state still believes a nuclear deal will get done.
“The nearly complete collapse of the P5+1’s positions in the interim agreement, in the Lausanne framework, and in the current talks almost guarantees that the sides will reach a deal and [that] the world will face a nuclear-armed terrorist state,” the official said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
*
Google’s Waze to launch new carpooling pilot program in Israel
(JNS.org) Google’s Waze app has announced that it is launching a new carpooling pilot program in Israel that will allow commuters to pay fellow drivers a small fee to share a ride to and from work.
In an announcement on its blog, Waze said it is “calling all Israeli Wazers who commute in Gush Dan” for help in participating in its new carpool app.
Google acquired Waze, an Israeli startup company that uses information from user’s phones for real-time traffic information, in 2013 for about $1 billion.
According to Waze, RideWith “is an easy way to connect with people who have similar commutes, so you can ride together on the fastest route.” As such, the riders also pitch in on the cost of gas and wear and tear on the vehicle by reimbursing the drive via the app when the ride is complete, based on a calculation by the app. Unlike Uber, the RideWith drivers will not earn a salary.
Waze warned that at first, due to the small number of users, certain routes may not work in the app. Waze hopes that RideWith will help reduce travel and fuel costs as well as the number of cars on the road, strain on the environment, and parking stress.
*
Israel and China expand trade credit by $500 million
(JNS.org) Israel and China have signed an agreement that expands the trade credit between their countries by $500 million.
The financial protocol between the two nations—which began in 1995—has now increased to $2.6 billion in insured lines of credit issued by Israeli banks to Chinese companies. The protocol’s expansion, signed Thursday, is the third such expansion since 2012. Those expansions have led to more than $1.1 billion worth of export transactions.
“The third expansion of the financial protocol between Israel and China is a further measurement for tightening the relation between the two countries, and indicates the success of the protocol in opening the Chinese market to Israeli companies,” said Israeli Finance Ministry Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu, Reuters reported.
“The policy of using state guarantees to support growth generating targets, is reflected in the expansion of the protocol, which will lead to the increase in the Israeli exports thus benefiting employment, GDP, and tax revenues,” she added.
*
Former Gaza inquiry head Schabas admits ‘distortion’ in U.N. focus on Israel
(JNS.org) William Schabas, the former head of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) investigation into Israel’s summer 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, acknowledged in an interview with the BBC that a “distortion” exists in how much attention the UNHRC devotes to Israel, though he insisted that the Jewish state is not treated harshly by the UNHRC.
“There is a distortion in the amount of attention given against Israel, and the number of resolutions directed against Israel,” Schabas said Tuesday, according to the Jerusalem Post, which cited theBBC interview. At the same time, Schabas claimed Israel gets a “soft ride in the Security Council hearings.”
Schabas also criticized the actions of the Hamas terrorist group during last summer’s war. “I’ve always said that rocket attacks against Israel would lead to persecution in the criminal court,” he said.
In February, Schabas resigned from his position as head of the U.N. inquiry amid controversies surrounding both his history of anti-Israel statements and a conflict of interest stemming from work he had performed for the Palestine Liberation Organization.
A vocal critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Schabas reiterated that stance in the BBC interview when he was asked which Western leader should be judged by the International Criminal Court.
“My favorite would be Netanyahu in the dock,” he said. “I’ve spent my career not just attacking Netanyahu, but also several others. That’s what I do. That’s my career.”
*
Travel magazine ranks Jerusalem as world’s 10th-best city for 2015
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Readers of Travel + Leisure Magazine ranked Jerusalem as the 10th-best city in the world for 2015, according to a list published by the magazine this week.
“Christians, Jews, and Muslims converge to worship in this 4,000-year-old holy city, and their respective churches, synagogues, and mosques surround the historic Old City,” the magazine said. “Here, you can tuck a miniature prayer into the Western Wall, or see a fragment of clay engraved with cuneiform at the excavation site at Temple Mount. The iconic, gleaming gold Dome of the Rock is best photographed from the Austrian Hospice, which offers unparalleled views of the city and Mount of Olives.
“Jerusalem, like every other city on our list, also has a stake in the contemporary and the secular. Luxury apartment buildings now erupt like stalagmites from the Judean Desert, and high-end restaurants, such as King’s Court at the restored Waldorf Astoria, are bringing a new upmarket appeal to this arid oasis.”
Kyoto was ranked as the best city in the world by the travel magazine, followed by Charleston, Siem Reap, Florence, Rome, Bangkok, Krakow, Barcelona, and Cape Town. Tel Aviv was ranked third in the Africa & Middle East category.
*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.