‘The time has come’ for official Israel-Indonesia relations, Netanyahu says
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday in Jerusalem with a delegation of senior Indonesian journalists who visited Israel as guests of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Israel and Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, do not have formal diplomatic relations, but there are business ties between the countries and the governments reportedly maintain unofficial contacts.
Netanyahu told the visiting journalists, “The time has come for official relations between Indonesia and Israel. We have many opportunities to cooperate in the fields of water and technology. Israel has excellent relations with several countries in Asia, particularly China, Japan, India, and Vietnam. In addition, Israel is also deepening its relations with Africa, Latin America, and Russia….Relations with the Arab world are also changing. Indeed, we are allies in the fight against radical Islam. Relations between Israel and Indonesia must also change.”
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Architectural plans for new National Library of Israel revealed
(JNS.org) In 2019, the National Library of Israel will move from Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus in Jerusalem to its new home in the capital’s National Quarter, adjacent to the Knesset and the Israel Museum. On Monday, library officials provided a sneak peek at the architectural plans for the ambitious project, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
National Library Director Oren Weinberg said funding for the new building—designed by Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, which also designed the Tate Modern building in London—will come almost entirely from private donors.
The new National Library will be six stories high and span some 480,000 square feet. Construction is expected to take four years and open to the public in 2020. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will attend the laying of the building’s cornerstone on April 5.
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Islamic State reportedly planning attacks on Jewish children in Turkey
(JNS.org) The Islamic State terror group is reportedly in the advanced stages of plans to murder Jewish children in Turkey.
According to a report by the United Kingdom’s Sky News, citing intelligence sources, the plot includes attacking Jewish kindergartens, schools and youth centers, with most likely target being Istanbul’s synagogue in Beyoglu. Information on the attack was obtained from six Islamic State operatives who were arrested in the southern city of Gaziantep last week, the report said.
“In light of these circumstances, extraordinary security measures are being taken above and beyond the high alert level already in place by the Turkish police, as well as vigilance within the Jewish community,” an intelligence source told Sky News.
“Undercover and other covert counter-terror measures are being implemented around the clock. This is a more than credible threat. This is an active plot,” the source added.
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Netanyahu issues order to not return bodies of Palestinian terrorists
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has order Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to no longer transfer the bodies of slain Palestinian terrorists to their families.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the reasoning behind the decision was to prevent opportunities for Palestinians to use the funerals of the slain terrorists for incitement.
Many Palestinians consider the terrorists to be “martyrs” and hold mass funerals where the bodies are paraded through their home village or city.
Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan had already been holding onto bodies of Israeli Arab terrorists, and now that same policy will be extended to the disputed Palestinian territories.
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Georgia becomes latest U.S. state to approve anti-BDS legislation
(JNS.org) The Georgia General Assembly became the latest state legislature to approve a bill that seeks to deter companies from taking part in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
The bill declares that Georgia state agencies “will not contract or invest with a company that unfairly singles out Israel for political purposes.” One of its co-sponsors, Republican State Sen. Judson Hill, called the legislation “a critical step forward in defending Georgia’s state economy and public policy” and said it is “taking a stand against the anti-Semitism and discrimination of the BDS movement.”
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is expected to sign the bill into law.
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Roseanne Barr on BDS movement: listen to what Jews living in Israel have to say
(By Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman/JNS.org) American actress and comedian Roseanne Barr, who gave remarks at the March 28 “Stop the Boycott” conference in Jerusalem, told JNS.org regarding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that “people should listen to what Jewish people say that live here, in Israel, rather than those people that live in Chicago and especially those that aren’t even Jewish.”
“Jewish people need to be the ones to talk about [BDS]—not [Pink Floyd’s] Roger Waters or the pope. It’s a Jewish subject. The rest of the people should keep their mouths shut and listen for a change,” Barr said in a phone interview after the conference, which was hosted by Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet.
In her talk at the conference, Barr said she sees pandemic anti-Semitism on Twitter. Since many social media users at first didn’t realize her Jewish roots—“perhaps because no one thought I was Jewish being from Utah”—she was privy to witnessing uncensored things non-Jews say about Jews, things they might not have said if they knew they were speaking to a Jew.
“It was shocking when I realized that what I considered criticism of Israel became garden variety anti-Semitism,” Barr said. “BDS is right-wing and fascist….BDS [members] do not want peace, nor do they want peace negotiations.”
Barr said she thinks many celebrities are afraid to speak up for Israel because they’re afraid of being maligned in the media, at conferences, on campuses, or even in synagogue.
“I think people are afraid. Have you ever been shouted down by these BDS people?” she said. “People are afraid of being targeted….[They are] protecting their lives and their families.”
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Israel backs down in standoff over Brazil envoy, assigns Dayan to New York
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he will re-assign Dani Dayan as Israel’s consul general in New York, ending a months-long standoff with Brazil over Dayan’s original appointment to the South American country.
Brazil refused to accept Dayan’s initial appointment due to pressure from Brazilian lawmakers over Dayan’s former leadership of the Israeli settlement movement in Judea and Samaria. One Brazilian lawmaker even likened Dayan to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
The Israeli government had refused to back down from the Dayan appointment for months, but on Monday announced Dayan’s forthcoming diplomatic post in New York.
“Those who don’t want me in Brasilia will get me in the capital of the world, and to me that is a victory,” Dayan said regarding the decision at an anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement) conference hosted by Yedioth Ahronoth. “I believe I can revolutionize Israeli public relations in the U.S., whose beating heart is in New York.”
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Israel’s High Court of Justice deems landmark gas deal unconstitutional
(JNS.org) The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that a landmark natural gas agreement is unconstitutional, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and energy companies.
Israel had reached an agreement between Israeli and American companies such as Houston-based Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group in order to pump recently discovered offshore natural gas reserves, arguing that the deal would help the Jewish state attain energy independence and significant revenue.
But the High Court dismissed a clause in the agreement that would keep Israel from making any changes to the deal’s agreed-upon regulations for the next decade, calling the clause unconstitutional because it restricts the power of the Israeli Knesset legislature. The court’s ruling gives the Knesset one year to amend the plan, or the deal will be cancelled.
“Certainly nobody has any reason to celebrate that the gas is liable to remain in the depths of the sea and that hundreds of billions of shekels will not reach the citizens of Israel. We will seek other ways to overcome the severe damage that this curious decision has caused the Israeli economy,” Netanyahu said.
Member of Knesset Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union), a leading opponent of the deal, said High Court “chose to put the brakes on the unchecked recklessness that was benefiting the gas tycoons.”
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