Kuwait Airways nixes NY-London route to avoid catering to Israelis
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Kuwait Airways has closed its New York-London route in the aftermath of a U.S. Transportation Department demand that the airline stop illegally discriminating against Israelis through its policy of refusing to sell them tickets, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The Transportation Department had sent the airline a letter in September, warning it to end its discriminatory policy after the revelation of a 2013 incident in which Israeli Jewish citizen Eldad Gatt attempted to purchase a ticket on the airline’s online booking system, and was refused.
Gatt filed a complaint with the Transportation Department, saying he had been unable to buy a ticket from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to London’s Heathrow Airport through Kuwait Airways because the airline’s online booking system prevented him from selecting “Israel” as his passport-issuing country.
The department investigated and initially rejected Gatt’s discrimination complaint. But when Gatt appealed, the case was reopened and the department ultimately concluded that the airline had violated a different federal law than the one initially cited by Gatt.
Kuwait Airways explained that since the airline was a state-owned company, it must abide by the laws of that state, which prohibit any agreements with “entities or persons residing in Israel, or with Israeli citizenship.”
The Transportation Department on Tuesday confirmed that Kuwait Airways had informed authorities it would drop the route and has filed a countersuit against the federal department. If the airline wins in court, it could potentially resume the New York-London flights.
The airline’s attorney said the Transportation Department lawsuit would not hold up in court, since the policy was based on citizenship—not religion—and that a Muslim with an Israeli passport would also not be allowed on Kuwait Airways flights.
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Netanyahu adopts new framework for Israel’s natural gas industry
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) After a long legislative fight with the Knesset’s opposition members and some in his own governing coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose Thursday to use his legal prerogative to adopt a new regulatory framework for Israel’s burgeoning natural gas industry.
Netanyahu used the powers vested in him under Article 52 of the Antitrust Law, which allows the prime minister to bypass the Israel Antitrust Authority when there are overarching national security and foreign policy considerations. A former Israeli antitrust commissioner, David Gilo, had opposed the gas deal.
“We must hit the gas pedal,” Netanyahu said Thursday at a special signing ceremony. “We want to pump gas into Israel, into the economy, for the benefit of Israelis. This is a gift from God and it will turn us into an energy powerhouse.”
The proposed outline seeks to regulate the development, harvesting, and royalties from Israel’s Leviathan, Tamar, Tanin, and Karish offshore gas fields, as well as any future natural gas finds. The Leviathan field, discovered in 2010 some 81 miles west of Haifa, holds an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Opponents of the new framework say it caters to tycoons by letting them use the gas mainly for export, while selling the rest at an inflated price to the domestic market.
Netanyahu has long insisted that the proposed framework, while not ideal, is essential for ensuring Israel’s energy needs. He said the framework is crucial for Israel to maintain a robust energy sector and tap the full potential of the offshore gas fields.
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U.S. government issues updated travel warning on Israel
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The U.S. State Department on Wednesday reissued a travel warning for Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. According to the warning, which replaced a travel warning that was issued Feb. 18, “Visitors to and residents of Israel and the West Bank should familiarize themselves with the location of the nearest bomb shelter or other hardened site.”
The warning informs U.S. citizens that “the security environment remains complex in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. U.S. citizens need to be aware of the continuing risks of travel to areas described.”
Addressing the current heightened tensions, the State Department warning states that “since October 2015, there have been frequent clashes between protesters and Israeli authorities, checkpoints and barriers have been set up by Israeli security forces that restrict movement of residents, and acts of terrorism have taken place, resulting in death and injury, including to U.S. citizens.”
While the clashes are not anti-American “in nature,” the warning continues, politically motivated violence in metropolitan areas has killed or injured at least 12 U.S. citizens in 2014 and 2015.
U.S. citizens are specifically urged to take into account the “danger of death, injury, or kidnapping” should they choose to visit Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Citizens are “strongly” urged to avoid all travel to Gaza, which the warning points out is controlled by the Hamas terror group/
Despite ongoing security concerns, “hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens safely visit Israel and the West Bank each year for study, tourism, and business,” the State Department says.
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Ancient marble slab reveals Jewish city near Sea of Galilee
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A 1,500-year-old marble slab found on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee Wednesday provides the first real proof of ancient Jewish settlement in the area, archaeologists said. The large slab, which bears an Aramaic inscription in Hebrew script, was dug up on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee as part of an ongoing excavation in the ancient town of Kursi.
Experts say the slab probably dates to around 500 C.E., when the Hebrew alphabet was used by Jews and some local Christian communities. This suggest that Kursi was either a Jewish community or a mixed Christian-Jewish settlement. Researchers could only discern two words: “Amen” and “Marmaria,” the latter possibly referring to Jesus’s mother, Mary.
Professor Michal Artzi, an archaeologist from the University of Haifa and one of the supervisors of the excavation efforts, said that while it had been assumed that Jews had inhabited Kursi, Wednesday’s find provides the first proof.
“It is a rarity to discover proof of a Jewish presence on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Up to now, we had nothing proving that Jews settled on the lake’s shores during that era, other than in the town of Migdal,” Artzi said.
Kursi is associated with the town of Garasenes or Gadarenes, where according to the New Testament, Jesus performed the Miracle of the Swine, in which he exorcised evil spirits from a man and cast them into a herd of wild pigs, which then rushed into the lake and drowned.
The excavation is being run under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, with the support of the Avery-Tsui Foundation.
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Iran remains defiant on missile testing
(JNS.org) Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said that Iran will continue tests on its missile program despite the threat of renewed sanctions over a missile test in October that violated international sanctions.
“We tested Emad, which is a conventional missile (on October 11) to show the world that the Islamic Republic will only act based on its national interests and no country or power can impose its will on Iran,” Dehghan said, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
“Iran will not accept any restrictions on its missile program,” he added.
The United Nations Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Iran said in a confidential report that Iran in October violated a Security Council resolution for test-firing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
“On the basis of its analysis and findings the Panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation by Iran of paragraph 9 of Security Council resolution 1929,” the panel said, Reuters reported.
The panel’s findings come as the International Atomy Energy Agency this week decided to end its 12-year investigation into Iran’s nuclear weapons program, leading the way for sanctions to be lifted and normalized international relations with Iran to resume.
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Obama to sign bill cutting off financing for Hezbollah
(JNS.org) President Barack Obama will sign into law a bill that cuts off financing for Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group.
“The president will sign this bill,” a senior administration official said, the Jerusalem Post reported. “For many years we have worked with Congress to intensify the pressure against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and we look forward to working closely with them in implementing these new authorities.”
The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015, which was originally co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), aims to sanction international financial institutions that knowingly engage in business with Hezbollah. The bill passed the House of Representatives and Senate in November.
The bill says it seeks to “prevent Hezbollah’s global logistics and financial network from operating in order to curtail funding of its domestic and international activities,” and to “utilize diplomatic, legislative, and executive avenues to combat Hezbollah’s criminal activities in order to block that organization’s ability to fund its global terrorist activities.”
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U.N.-sponsored conference accuses Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’
(JNS.org) The United Nations-sponsored International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.
“Since Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, it has implemented a comprehensive policy to deepen its control over the city by weakening Palestinian presence and ties there. In Jerusalem, a policy of ethnic cleansing was pushing Palestinians out of the city. Since September, the situation had erupted,” said Shawan Jabarin, director of the Al-Haq legal center in Ramallah, at the conference in Indonesia.
Jabarin called on world nations “to sever cooperation with Israel, ban settlement products, and implement sanctions.”
In a statement for the conference, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned violence on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and lamented the “Israeli occupation.”
“The anger we are witnessing is bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation. It is the result of fear, humiliation, frustration, and mistrust,” Ban said.
The conference was organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
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PM vows tens of millions of shekels to bolster Judea and Samaria security
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to invest tens of millions of shekels in bolstering security in Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu spoke with the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, about how the Israeli government will continue to strengthen security in Judea and Samaria, Haaretz reported, citing Israel Radio. Judea and Samaria as well as Jerusalem have been hit particularly hard during the current wave of Palestinian terror.
“We are acting with all the means at our disposal to strengthen security in Judea and Samaria. The activities of the security forces are focusing at this stage on the roads. The IDF is acting and will continue to act with the full support of the political leadership at all times and everywhere it is needed,” Netanyahu said.
Israel government funds will cover lighting on roads, better cellphone coverage, and fortifying security in places with frequent terror attacks.
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Foreign banks increasingly investing in Israeli innovation
(JNS.org) Israeli entrepreneurs are increasingly attracting foreign banks’ investments by offering innovative technologies.
The Santander InnoVentures fund, which has $100 million available to invest in the next two years, plans to make one or two annual investments in Israel. Even though there are no Santander banks in Israel, the company has shown significant interest in Israeli technology. Santander has already made its first investment in an Israeli start-up, the MyCheck mobile payment solutions company.
Other banks, such as Citi and Barclays, have also started investing or mentoring start-ups in Israel due to the Jewish state’s expertise in security, big data analysis, and mobile communications.
Citi has invested tens of millions of dollars in Tel Aviv’s high-technology hub, while Barclays focuses on cyber security, the Bitcoin digital currency, and compliance solutions in Israel. Barclays has also initiated a program to mentor 10 Israeli start-ups.
“We realized…unless we go with open innovation rather than internally developed solutions, the way banks previously did, [then] banks will lose out to the technology companies,” Michal Beinisch, chief operating officer of Barclays Israel, told Reuters.
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2 Palestinians go on trial for targeting Israeli embassy in Berlin
(JNS.org) Two men of Palestinian descent went on trial Wednesday for allegedly planning an attack on Israel’s embassy in Berlin, Germany.
The two 21-year-old Berlin-born men—identified as Mohamed El-N and Ali El-I—were supporters of the Islamic State terror group. They were indicted for targeting the Israeli embassy and a synagogue between December 2014 and July 2015. One of the defendants said in court that he “wanted to experience something incredible,” according to the Berliner Morgenost daily newspaper.
The men were arrested last summer for possession of illegal fireworks, starter pistol cartridges, and knives, but explosives were not found, according to a criminal court spokesman. A chemical expert did find the remains of materials used in pyrotechnics on their clothes.
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