Senior Hamas official believes Trump is secretly Jewish
(JNS.org) A senior official from the Palestinian terror group Hamas believes President-elect Donald Trump is secretly Jewish due to Trump’s love for money.
“Trump loves the Jews, and not only because he likes the Jewish religion. I do not rule out the possibility that he is a Jew,” Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar told Al-Jazeera earlier this month, according to a new report from the Middle East Media Research Institute.
“He loves the Jewish religion,” al-Zahar added, “and the most important thing in the Jewish religion is Jewish money.”
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Record 700 Brazilian Jews set to make aliyah in 2016
(JNS.org) The Jewish Agency for Israel said that 2016 will see a record 700 Brazilian Jews immigrate to Israel.
According to the Jewish Agency, 650 Brazilian Jews have already made aliyah this year, with around another 50 expected by the end of December. This is up from 496 new Brazilian immigrants in 2015 and 280 in 2014.
“The Brazilian Jewish community is a warm, Zionist community with strong ties to Israel,” Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky said during a visit to Brazil. “Since Israel’s establishment, more than 15,000 Brazilian Jews have immigrated to Israel, contributing to the Jewish state’s national character and strength.”
The head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Brazil, Revital Poleg, noted that the increase in aliyah is tied to the ongoing economic crisis in Brazil, but is also rooted in the strong ties the country’s Jewish community has to Israel.
“Many of the immigrants note that they view Israel as a place where they can lead Jewish lives in an environment that feels like home,” said Poleg.
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New initiative enlists Israeli lone soldiers to fight BDS on campuses
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A new initiative called the Gideon Project is enlisting Israel Defense Forces lone soldiers (referring to soldiers without immediate family in Israel) as volunteers to combat the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The Gideon Project aims to pull the rug out from under the BDS strategy of garnering support for its cause by evoking values such as minority and human rights. The project is headed by the Reservists at the Front organization and the Lone Soldier Center, which issued a joint statement describing the project as a “challenging and unique Zionist mission, on the front lines of the fight against hate organizations.”
Within the project’s framework, the lone soldiers will deliver lectures on college campuses, in which they will underscore Palestinian leaders’ human rights violations within Palestinian society. The soldiers plan to confront audiences with the argument that supporting the Palestinian leadership encourages oppression, abuse, and acts of retaliation against Palestinian civilians.
“We have to take an active approach and work to persuade others through a conviction in the justness of our path,” said Amit Deri, chairman of Reservists at the Front.
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UN passes Israeli-sponsored resolution on sustainable development
(JNS.org) The United Nations General Assembly passed an Israeli-sponsored resolution Friday focusing on international innovation and development.
The “Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development” resolution passed with 123 countries supporting it, 30 countries opposing, and eight abstaining. The Israeli-sponsored resolution focuses on ways U.N. member states can remove barriers facing entrepreneurs and help foster talent within their societies. It also seeks to increase access and opportunities for women, youth, and people with disabilities by “promoting entrepreneurship education through capacity building, training programs, and business incubators.”
“This resolution is further proof of the important contributions that Israel makes to the world as a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said.
The resolution passed despite nearly automatic opposition to all Israeli resolutions by the Arab bloc. Danon called their opposition “hypocritical,” noting that the bill could help all countries in the Middle East.
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Trump selects Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general
(JNS.org) President-elect Donald Trump announced the selection of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as the next attorney general.
Sessions, 69, a former Alabama attorney general and U.S. attorney, will serve as Trump’s top law enforcement officer as the president-elect seeks to tackle divisive issues such as immigration.
This selection is not without controversy, as Sessions has been dogged by past allegations of racism. In 1986, Sessions became only the second nominee in a half century to be denied confirmation as a federal judge, largely due to allegations that he made racist statements to an African-American prosecutor. He also called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union “un-American.”
A firm conservative Republican, Sessions has largely been a reliable supporter of Israel during his two decades in the Senate. He has staunchly opposed the Iran nuclear deal, has urged President Barack Obama to veto measures targeting Israel at the United Nations, and has supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas rockets. Sessions was also honored last year by the Alabama Jewish community for being a “friend of Israel.”
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Trump’s CIA pick promises to roll back Iran nuke deal
(JNS.org) President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday his selection of Kansas Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo as his nominee for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser.
Pompeo, 52, a three-term congressman who graduated first in his class at West Point Military Academy, has been a fierce critic of President Barack Obama’s landmark nuclear deal with Iran.
“I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter Thursday.
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks said Friday, “Throughout his years of public service, Rep. Pompeo has been a friend of American Jews and a true friend of Israel. His staunch opposition to the Iran nuclear deal shows he takes our interests to heart and we are proud to support him.”
Flynn, 57, who previously served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012-2014, was an early backer of Trump’s candidacy. He has been outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s campaign against terrorism, saying in a recently published book that the U.S. is losing a “world war” against radical Islam due to “political correctness.”
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Israeli envoy Ron Dermer calls Trump and Pence ‘true friends of Israel’ after meeting
(JNS.org) Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer met with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York City.
“Israel has no doubt that President-Elect Trump is a true friend of Israel,” Dermer told reporters after the meeting Thursday.
Dermer also called Vice President-elect Mike Pence a “true friend of Israel” and said he looks forward to working with the entire Trump administration.
Pence “was one of Israel’s greatest friends in the Congress, one of the most pro-Israel governors in the country, and we look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all of the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever,” Dermer said. Bannon’s detractors have accused him of fostering anti-Semitism and white nationalism on the Breitbart website, but some Jewish groups softened their stance Thursday after the Anti-Defamation League said it is “not aware of any anti-Semitic statements made by Bannon.”
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Hadassah announces partnership with pro-Israel Hispanic evangelical Christian group
(JNS.org) The women’s Zionist organization Hadassah announced an alliance with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) and its subsidiary, the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition (HILC), in order to mobilize Hispanic evangelical Christians in support of the Hadassah Medical Organization’s (HMO) humanitarian efforts in Israel.
The partnership will formally launch with an “Israel Solidarity Day” celebration Dec. 4, where there NHCLC and HILC will invite their pastors, churches and congregations nationwide to participate in a day of special offering in support of Hadassah’s Emergency Preparedness Center at its Jerusalem-based hospital.
NHCLC calls itself the world’s largest Hispanic Christian organization.
“[NHCLC and HILC’s] support and engagement will play a vital role in HMO’s ability to continue to provide world-class medical care to the people of Israel and beyond,” said Hadassah National President Ellen Hershkin.
HILC President Pastor Mario Bramnick said, “We are honored to support Hadassah’s mission in caring for [Israel] and its people.”
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President Rivlin: India is Israel’s most important trade partner
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met in New Delhi with the heads of Israel’s defense sector operations in India. Rivlin, on an official state trip to the South Asian nation, heard about the Israeli defense companies’ activities and challenges in India while sharing his positive impressions from his visit.
At the outset of a joint Israel-India Innovative Partnership seminar, Rivlin said Thursday, “In the last two years, trade relations between Israel and India have increased remarkably.”
“The trade in our country is in a state of constant growth, with revenue in excess of $2 billion each year. [Our] partnership in industry and trade includes an increasing amount of goods and knowledge, from water to communications services, from optics to iron, from defense and aviation to diamonds, textile, chemicals, and medical equipment….India is our most important trade partner,” Rivlin added.
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Hezbollah shows off US-made equipment in military parade
(JNS.org) The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah recently held its first-ever military parade in Syria, in a rare public show of force by the group.
The parade, held in the city of al-Qasayr, featured a wide array of equipment, including Soviet-made T-72 tanks, Russian Kornet anti-tank missiles, armored personnel carriers (APCs), rapid response motorcycles, and KS-12A anti-aircraft weapons. But the most significant pieces of equipment featured by the terror group were American-made M113 APCs.
According to the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, U.S. officials are investigating how Hezbollah came to possess the American APCs. Some believe Hezbollah may have received the equipment from the Lebanese army.
The Lebanese army received 50 armored vehicles, 40 artillery pieces, and 50 grenade launchers from the U.S. last summer as part of a military aid package. Alternatively, Hezbollah may have seized the equipment from the Israeli-allied South Lebanon Army following Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, or from the Islamic State terror group.
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Travel to Israel from North America will jump 5 percent in 2016, officials project
(JNS.org) A record number of North Americans have traveled to Israel so far this year, and Israeli tourism officials expect to finish out 2016 with a 5-percent increase during the last year.
Some 535,000 Americans visited Israel from January through October—10,000 more people than the previous year, Uri Steinberg, Israel’s tourism commissioner for North America, told JNS.org Thursday.
“This is the best year for tourism from North America,” Steinberg said. “Our forecast is for the whole year, we expect an increase of 5 percent.”
Despite the turmoil in the Middle East and an ongoing threat of terrorism, which makes some cautious about traveling outside the U.S., a rising number of Americans are journeying to Israel to experience the country’s history and culture, Steinberg said.
“Israel right now is a happy place,” he said. “You see a lot of smiling faces and people speaking different languages other than Hebrew, Arabic, and English on the streets.”
Israeli officials expect the tourism spike to continue into 2017, which marks the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
“Israel is on people’s bucket list,” said Russell Robinson, CEO of the Jewish National Fund, which sponsors trips to Israel.
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Newly discovered Byzantine arch unveiled in Jerusalem
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The discovery of a 1,500-year-old Byzantine arch was revealed at a ceremony attended by Israeli Construction Minister Yoav Gallant in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.
The arch was discovered during recent excavation work to uncover the layout of the street between the Hurva Synagogue, considered Israel’s most important synagogue until the 1948 War of Independence, and the Cardo, Jerusalem’s main street during the Roman era.
Gallant also unveiled the second mosaic in the “Jerusalem of Mosaics” project and viewed artifacts that were recently unearthed beneath Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue. The Jerusalem of Mosaics project, initiated by the Jewish Quarter Restoration and Development Company, aims to shed light on everyday life along the Cardo.
“The 2,000-year-old stones that our forefathers walked on are a moving testimony to the unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and this place,” Gallant said.
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Israeli minister criticizes Palestinians for politicizing UN climate talks
(JNS.org) Israel’s environmental minister slammed the Palestinians for attempting to politicize a United Nations conference on climate change.
During his address to the conference in Morocco, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah accused Israel of polluting the environment in the West Bank by constructing factories. Hamdallah claimed that Israel is harming the environment to directly harm Palestinians.
Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin said it is “such a shame that the Palestinians used this [conference] to attack [Israel] and make absurd, groundless allegations.”
“I could provide you with many examples, but I will just give one from last month: The Palestinians are attempting to build a cement factory on a nature reserve. This is being promoted by the Palestinian Authority for the simple reason that it serves the interests of Abu Mazen’s (PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s) sons,” he said.
Elkin added regarding the PA-initiated cement factory that Palestinian civilians “even turned to us, the Israelis, for help because the [Palestinian] Authority is not helping them” on that environmental issue.
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Israeli UN envoy Danon leads anti-BDS rally
(JNS.org) Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon led a rally at U.N. headquarters Nov. 16 in New York City, aiming to organize legal efforts to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The event, titled “Legal Scholars Against BDS,” was attended by hundreds of experts and academics who discussed legal methods to counter the anti-Israel BDS movement as well as to establish a network of pro-Israel legal experts to combat BDS.
“We are here to send a simple message to the BDS movement: to the bullies who harass students on campus, to those who use the language of civil rights to mask their hate, to the activists who are conducting this illegal and unjust campaign of hate—your time is over, your movement based on lies and intimidation is coming to an end,” Danon told the rally attendees in New York City.
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