Flag burners now face up to 3 years in jail in Israel after Knesset amends law
(JNS.org) The Israeli Knesset on Monday passed an amendment to Israel’s Flag and Emblem Law that makes burning the Israeli flag a criminal offense punishable by a roughly $15,000 fine or up to three years in jail.
The amendment passed a second and third hearing by a majority of 38 Members of Knesset to 12. Under the previous law, the maximum penalty for desecrating the flag was one year in jail or a small fine of $78. The amended legislation also gives Israeli courts judicial discretion to deny an individual convicted of burning the flag certain state-funded benefits—including scholarships as well as health and social security benefits—for up to six years.
MK Nava Boker (Likud), who sponsored the bill, said in March, “I presented this bill following the incitement and riots we have been seeing in Arab towns in Israel….It is time to impose a harsher sentence and a hefty fine to end this disgraceful phenomenon.”
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Israeli high schoolers win medals at international physics and math competitions
(JNS.org) The Israeli delegation to the 47th International Physics Olympiad for high school students in Zurich, Switzerland, which ended Sunday, won four medals—three silver and one bronze—as well as an honorable mention.
Israel’s team included Omry Cohen, who tied for 63rd place and received a silver medal; Iddo Friedman, who tied for 68th place and received a silver medal; Chen Dan Mechel, who came in 101st and was awarded a silver medal; Nir Yosef May, who came in 131st to get a bronze medal; and Nitzan Shapria, who came in 221st place and earned an honorable mention.
Israel was ranked 19th among the 87 countries that participated in the Physics Olympiad. At the Mathematical Olympiad for high schoolers in Hong Kong, meanwhile, Israelis Yaron Brodsky, Omri Peer, and Yoav Avidan won silver medals, while Boaz Buberman, Dor Mezer, and Liam Hanany brought home bronzes. Israel was ranked 22nd among 109 countries that took part in the Mathematical Olympiad, which wrapped up Sunday.
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Former Turkish military attaché to Israel admits he organized failed coup
(JNS.org) The former Turkish Air Force chief and the country’s former military attaché to Israel, Akın Ozturk, has admitted to organizing the failed military coup in the country over the weekend, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
The report said that Ozturk confessed to the plot in an interrogation, and photos have been released showing him shackled and with a number of injuries.
In earlier statements to the media, Ozturk had denied any involvement in the attempted coup against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I am not someone who has planned or directed the coup attempt…I don’t know who did,” he had initially said, the Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.
Oztur was in charge of the Turkish Air Force from 2013-15, and served in Israel from 1996-98.
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Reinstated British MP denies she is anti-Semitic, but admits using anti-Semitic language
(JNS.org) British Member of Parliament (MP) Naz Shah—who was suspended in April from the Labour Party for suggesting that Israel should be relocated to the United States as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and was later reinstated—told BBC Radio 4 that she is not anti-Semitic, but admitted she had used anti-Semitic language.
Shah’s initial comment sparked an anti-Semitism scandal that resulted in the suspension of at least 50 other Labour members. In the new radio interview, Shah reflected on “how stupid I was and how ignorant I was” when she made her comment about relocating Israel.
“I didn’t get anti-Semitism as racism,” said Shag. “I had never come across it. I think what I had was an ignorance….And I had to really question my heart of hearts. Yes, I have ignorance, yes everybody has prejudice, subconscious biases, but does that make me anti-Semitic? And the answer was no, I do not have a hatred of Jewish people.”
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Argentina commemorates 1994 Jewish center bombing, holds anti-Semitism forum
(JNS.org) Argentine President Mauricio Macri and members of his cabinet on Monday attended a ceremony marking the 22nd anniversary of the AMIA Jewish center bombing in Buenos Aires. Eighty-five people were killed and hundreds were wounded in that bombing on July 18, 1994.
Authorities widely believe that Iran is responsible for what is seen as the worst bombing in the country’s history. The ceremony for the 22nd anniversary of the bombing featured the motto “memory unites us” and included the public reading of the names of each of the 85 victims.
“The terrorists who planted the bomb…simply wanted to destroy the symbol for solidarity that is the AMIA and thus hurt us all as Argentineans,” said AMIA Vice President Ralph Thomas Saieg, according to the World Jewish Congress. Saieg called on Argentina’s justice minister, Germán Garavano, to continue to investigate the bombing.
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American and Druze IDF soldiers who died in grenade accident laid to rest
(JNS.org) Two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers, including one American, were killed in an accidental grenade explosion on Sunday. They were laid to rest on Monday.
The victims of the accident were American lone soldier Sgt. Shlomo Rindenow and Israeli-Druze reserve soldier Staff Sgt. Husam Tafash.
“My little brother was full of life and always smiling, and he never complained. He was the little guy of the family. He told me, ‘I want to go into the IDF.’ He came [to Israel] and now he’s here because he was serving all of us,” said Avraham Rindenow, Shlomo’s oldest brother.
“We lost the one we hold dearest. We’ll continue to remember you, you’ll remain in our hearts,” said members of Husam’s family, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
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After failed coup, Istanbul official shot in head; Turkey-Israel deal reportedly unaffected
(JNS.org) The deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Sisli district was shot in the head and was in critical condition just a day after Turkey’s military unsuccessfully attempted a coup to topple the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend.
The Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that the shooter entered the office of Deputy Mayor Cemil Candas, and shots were then heard. It is unclear if the shooting was related to the failed coup, but the major Turkish opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, has a strong presence in the Sisli district.
Meanwhile, Erdogan’s government, which remains in power, has indicated that Turkey’s recently reached reconciliation agreement with Israel is unaffected by the coup attempt.
“We are not backing out of our reconciliation agreement with Israel,” a Turkish official said, Israel Hayom reported. “The coup attempt and the latest developments in Turkey will not have any effect on it.”
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IDF fails to shoot down Syrian drone that entered Israeli airspace
(JNS.org) Israel fired missiles toward a drone that entered Israeli airspace from Syria on Sunday, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“Two Patriot air defense missiles were fired towards a drone that infiltrated Israeli airspace in the central Golan Heights. The drone returned to Syria,” the IDF said in a statement.
The missiles were unable to intercept the drone, which led to shrapnel falling in Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar in the upper Galilee region. A 14-year-old girl was lightly injured and taken to the hospital. Israeli fighter jets were dispatched, but also did not hit the drone.
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