Israel apologizes after diplomat uses Singapore flag as tablecloth
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel apologized Thursday for the misconduct of a junior diplomat at the Jewish state’s embassy in Singapore who had used Singapore’s flag as a tablecloth during a party, sparking a diplomatic uproar against Israel.
Today Online reported that the diplomat was documented by a neighbor using the flag as a tablecloth during a party he hosted at his apartment in Singapore. Among other things, he placed alcoholic beverages on it.
The neighbor complained to police and the matter was transferred to Singapore’s Foreign Ministry, which summoned Israeli Ambassador to Singapore Yael Rubinstein. The Israeli embassy said it was “appalled to learn of the deplorable behavior displayed by one of its junior staff members and expresses its sincere apologies.”
The embassy also said that Israel’s Foreign Ministry director general, Dore Gold, “has instructed that requisite strong disciplinary procedures will be adopted.” Israel said the disciplinary measures reflect “the severity with which Israel views this incident, especially in light of the close and friendly relationship between Singapore and Israel.”
Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said that the “misuse of the Singapore flag is a serious offense” and welcomed the Israeli embassy’s apology as well as its assurances that the diplomat concerned would be punished.
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8,000 Israelis suffer from PTSD due to current wave of terror, study says
(JNS.org) As a result of the current Palestinian terror wave in Israel, 8,000 Israelis have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) said on Wednesday.
“This is a long war,” ITC Director Talia Levanon told Israel’s Army Radio.
“We call terror victims [suffering from trauma] the ‘transparent injured,’ because we don’t see them. The circle of injury is so broad that the circles of support need to be large as well,” Levanon said.
For every Israeli killed or wounded, according to a study conducted by the ITC, there will be 27 witnesses to the attack that will need PTSD rehabilitation. Of those who are treated immediately, 87 percent will recover quickly.
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Clinton calls Islamic State persecution of Mideast Christians, Yazidis ‘genocide’
(JNS.org) U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said that the Islamic State is committing genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East.
“I think I was asked this a couple months ago, and I said that term carries with it legal import, it is a very important concept and label for behavior that deserves that name,” Clinton responded to a voter at a town hall in Berlin, N.H.
The voter asked Clinton if she was willing to join other leaders in designating the Islamic State’s persecution against religious minorities as genocide.
“I am now sure we have enough evidence, what is happening is genocide deliberately aimed at destroying lives and wiping out the existence of Christians and other religious minorities,” Clinton said.
The Obama administration has yet to decide if it will officially designate Islamic State violence as genocide.
Meanwhile, terrorists are still holding hostage over 3,000 Yazidis, confirmed a Yazidi activist who escaped from the Islamic State last year after being used as a sex slave.
“At this moment there are 3,400 people in detention who are Syrian or Iraqi,” 21-year-old, Nadia Murad Basee Taha told Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos during a visit to Athens.
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Israeli victim succumbs to wounds from Palestinian stabbing terror attack
(JNS.org) Gennady Kaufman, 41-year-old-victim of a Palestinian terrorist stabbing attack earlier this month in Hebron, died of his wounds on Wednesday at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
“Despite the difficult and stubborn struggle of various teams for three and a half weeks, he did not survive his serious wounds,” the hospital said in a statement, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Kaufman, a resident of Kiryat Arba, is survived by his former wife Veronica and their two children, David, 19 and Michal, 9.
Kaufman was stabbed multiple times and left critically wounded by terrorist, Ihab Maswada, 21, near the Tomb of the Patriarchs on Dec. 7.
Upon hearing of his death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to Kaufman’s family.
“I would like to send condolences to the family of Genady Kaufman. Genady was the gardener at the Tomb of the Patriarchs [Machpelah Cave]. He was stabbed in a murderous assault several weeks ago. Sadly, he did not recover. This morning as well, I say to all those who would uproot us from the Tomb of the Patriarchs—except for a few years in the previous century, we have been there for almost 4,000 years and we will stay there forever. You cannot defeat us,” Netanyahu said.
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U.S. spied on Netanyahu during Iran talks, report says
(JNS.org) The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) was spying on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Iran nuclear talks in spite of President Barack Obama’s 2014 promise to limit eavesdropping on foreign leaders.
During last summer’s nuclear arms agreement with Iran, NSA captured conversations between Netanyahu and other of his aides in an effort to counter Netanyahu’s campaign against the nuclear deal, according to unnamed US officials, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The NSA found that Netanyahu leaked details of the U.S.-Iran negotiations, learned through Israeli spying operations.
NSA surveillance also caught communication involving members of Congress. Unnamed Jewish-American organizations were being coached by Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, on how to influence U.S. lawmakers to oppose the deal.
While Israel lobbied Congress before the nuclear deal was passed in September, the NSA removed from reports the names of lawmakers and personal information.
A senior U.S. official said the NSA’s goal was “to give us an accurate illustrative picture of what [the Israelis] were doing.”
“We do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike,” a White House National Security Council spokesman told the Wall Street Journal.
Allies such as French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were placed on a protected list guarding them from U.S. eavesdropping. But Obama deemed spying on Netanyahu a “compelling national security purpose,” the report said.
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.