Netanyahu: peace ‘founded on security, not goodwill’
(JNS.org) On the day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was set to arrive in Israel for his latest attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said peace “is founded on security, not goodwill.”
“Without security we will not be able to defend ourselves and any peace we have will unravel,” Netanyahu said Thursday at a ceremony in Jerusalem commemorating the 109th anniversary of the death of the father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, Israel Hayomreported.
“We remain faithful to Herzl’s vision: to establish here an exemplary state, a modern state, a state that is rooted in our land, the Land of Israel, but also a state that above all is able to give the Jews what was lost to them in their years of exile—the ability to defend themselves, by themselves, against any threat,” Netanyahu added.
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‘Christian Birthright’ group travels to Israel to learn advocacy skills
(JNS.org) A group of 17 Christian college students recently traveled to Israel to take part in a three-week program to bolster their skills as pro-Israel advocates.
Described as “Christian Birthright,” a play on the popular 10-day Taglit-Birthright program for young Jewish adults, the Israel Experience College Scholarship Program, which is in its 10th year, offers students a free trip to Israel to expand the knowledge and skills that will enable them to be stronger advocates for Israel in college and in life.
According to the program’s website, the students learn about the Jewish roots of their faith, a history of Christian anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, modern Zionism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Despite being the only beacon of freedom and democracy in the Middle East, we are losing the battle for public opinion on university campuses,” Josh Reinstein, director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, told the Jerusalem Post during a meeting the students had at the Knesset.
The pro-Israel Christian students believe that the program will be an effective tool for them to counter anti-Israel bias when they return to campus.
“The Israel Experience College Scholarship program is equipping me with the knowledge to counter speech directed against Israel, educate the misinformed and promote peace,” Danielle DosSantos, a student at Rutgers University, told the Jerusalem Post.
Lost your Israeli passport? Seek refuge at Chabad until consular strike ends
(JNS.org) Israeli citizens who require consular services around the world, or those whose passports are stolen, will need to wait to get help until the end of a strike by Israeli Foreign Ministry employees demanding higher salaries. The union of foreign ministry workers told its members not to issue visas as of last Sunday and to suspend consular services abroad. In the meantime, Israelis abroad have been encouraged to seek help at the nearest Chabad center in their location.
“We can’t issue visas, unfortunately, but we can provide traveles with a nice, warm meal, a comfortable place to rest, and other assistance,” Rabbi Mordechai Levenhartz, head of a Chabad center in Kiev, Ukraine, told Army Radio.
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Institutions in Chicago and Israel want more, cheaper clean water by 2020
(JNS.org) Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is collaborating with the University of Chicago to fund nanotechnology research that aims to develop the materials and methods necessary to produce more clean water, and to make it cheaper, by 2020. The Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., will also contribute to the project.
The project was announced Sunday in Jerusalem during a meeting between Israeli President Shimon Peres, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and both university presidents. “Clean, plentiful water is a strategic issue in the Middle East and the world at large,” said BGU President Rivka Carmi.
“Chicago’s worldwide leadership in water management continues to grow as we invest in our water infrastructure, creating jobs for our residents and economic activity in our neighborhoods. I strongly support this partnership,” Emanuel said.
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Jewish groups welcome U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage
(JNS.org) Prominent Jewish groups welcomed the United States Supreme Court’s decision striking down the 1996 Defense Against Marriage Act and California’s ban on gay marriage. The decision paves the way for federal benefits to be extended to same-sex marriages.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC), which filed an amicus brief in the cases decided Wednesday, praised the decision but also called for more progress on gay rights.
“Full recognition of marriage equality—the right to marry the person one loves regardless of gender—is a right whose recognition is long overdue. Today’s decisions are a large, but, unfortunately, incomplete, step in that direction,” AJC General Counsel Marc D. Stern said.
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, said, “Our [Conservative Jewish] movement recognizes and celebrates marriages, whether between partners of the same sex or the opposite sex. We therefore celebrate today’s decisions on gay marriage by the Supreme Court.”
With the Supreme Court’s decision, the U.S. joins Israel and several other Western countries that extend government benefits to same-sex couples. Israel, which does not permit same-sex marriage or civil marriage, does recognize same-sex unions for the purposes of taxes, immigration and other state benefits.
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