Israeli Navy braces for ‘reverse flotilla’ from Gaza
(JNS.org) The Israeli Navy is preparing for a so-called “reverse flotilla” expected to leave Gaza on Monday and set out toward Israeli ships enforcing the naval blockade six miles from the Gaza shore, Israel Hayom reported. The flotilla is expected to comprise several boats and dozens of Palestinian activists, as well as Europeans.
Traveling out of Gaza rather than toward it like the Turkish Mavi Marmara in 2010, the “reverse flotilla” is the initiative of an organization called Shabaab Al-Intifada, whose Facebook page says the flotilla’s mission is to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces officials said Sunday night that they had observed preparations for the flotilla in Gaza.
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Netanyahu in Rome: ‘I will not be silent’ on Israel’s security
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday in Rome that the Iran sanctions regime “has started to weaken and very quickly,” and is liable to collapse if “tangible steps are not taken soon.” Iran is receiving $7 billion in sanctions relief through its recently reached deal with world powers.
Earlier on Sunday, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said in a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv that Israel had “declared war on the U.S.” through its vocal opposition of the Iran nuclear program deal. In his remarks in Rome, Netanyahu responded to Olmert without mentioning him by name.
“The U.S. was, is, and will be the greatest friend of Israel. As prime minister of Israel, I have warned time and time again about the dangers connected with the Iranian nuclear program. In contrast to others, when I see that interests vital to the security of Israel’s citizens are in danger, I will not be silent.”
IDF patrol comes under fire near Syrian border
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel Defense Forces soldiers on routine patrol near the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights came under fire Monday, Army Radio reported. The troops returned fire at the Syrian post recognized as the source of the fire.
Earlier on Monday, a Syrian mortar shell landed in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, causing no harm. Both incidents are believed to be cases of accidental fire as a result of the Syrian civil war between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Iran ‘far too close’ to nuclear weapon after deal, says former CIA chief
(JNS.org) Gen. Michael Hayden, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said Iran is “far too close to a nuclear weapon” following its interim agreement with world powers. The deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium to 5 percent.
“At the end of the day, Iran is going to be a nuclear threshold state,” Hayden told Fox News.
“We have accepted Iranian nuclear enrichment,” he said. “What we have to do is push that threshold back as far as possible, and that will define whether this is a good idea or a bad idea.”
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Rouhani: Iran to build second nuclear reactor at Bushehr
(JNS.org) Coming off its deal with the P5+1 powers, in which it secured $7 billion in sanctions relief, Iran will build a second nuclear reactor at Bushehr.
“Based on our estimates, the second nuclear power plant will be built in the same province (Bushehr) and I hope that we can use the facilities of this province,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Fars over the weekend.
Iran has identified 34 locations where new nuclear facilities could be built, Fars reported.
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Israeli President Shimon Peres says he will not remain in politics after term ends
(JNS.org) Israel President Shimon Peres does not intend to remain in politics after completing his current term in 2014.
“I have no such plans [to remain in politics after my term ends],” Peres told Israel Hayom during a trip to Mexico. “I plan to serve the country in informal ways. I think that politics today are in need of greater goodwill, or at least better organization. I will contribute what I can. I have no plans to represent a party.”
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Prisoner release keeps Palestinian Authority in talks with Israel, official says
(JNS.org) Fatah Central Committee Member Nabil Shaath said that despite his belief that the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations have failed, the Palestinian Authority (PA) would remain in the talks for the purpose of getting Israel to release terrorist prisoners.
“We have committed to negotiations for a period of nine months, and by then we hope to see all 104 of our prisoners released,” Shaath told Maariv.
Israel has so far released half of the 104 Palestinian terrorist prisoners it said it would free as part of the negotiations.
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Holocaust survivor and his rescuer reunited after 69 years by Jewish foundation
(JNS.org) The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) on Nov. 27 brought together Holocaust survivor Dr. Leon Gersten with his Holocaust rescuer from Poland, righteous gentile Czeslaw Polziec, for the first time in 69 years.
For more than two years, the Polziec family hid Gersten from the Nazis, along with his mother Frieda and the Wiesenfelds, the family of Frieda’s sister and brother-in-law.
JFR has been arranging such reunions for 20 years, usually on the day before Thanksgiving. JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl told JNS.org that this year’s reunion at JFK International Airport carried extra significance due to the historic overlap of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.
“Hanukkah is the festival of light, and in many ways [Czeslaw Polziec’s] Polish Catholic family brought light into the lives of the Gersten and Wiesenfeld families,” Stahl said.
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Israel set to rejoin UN Human Rights Council after 18-month absence
(JNS.org) Israel is set to rejoin the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) through a deal with European states to join their bloc, pending a vote.
Israel severed ties with the UNHCR in May 2012 after the body announced it would investigate West Bank Jewish communities. Since 2008, the body has passed 45 resolutions against Israel, more than any other country. Israel will join the council’s Western European and Others Group, contingent on Israel’s permitting itself to undergo the council’s Universal Periodic Human Rights Review, the Times of Israel reported.
Before leaving the UNHCR, Israel was not part of a regional group, leaving it exposed to unfettered criticism from the council’s Islamic states, which dominate the Asian and African blocs.
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Israel and Jordan agree to construct joint industrial park on border
(JNS.org) Israel and Jordan have agreed to construct a joint industrial park on the border between the two nations, marking their first large-scale agreement since the 1994 peace treaty.
The future industrial park in the northern Jordan Valley will consist of two parallel industrial and employment zones that will be connected by a bridge spanning the Jordan River. An Israeli ministerial committee has approved an initial NIS 120 million ($34 million) investment and a future commitment of NIS 60 million ($17 million) for the project.
“[The agreement] will strengthen relations between the two states and add to growth in the region through new factories, joint projects and the creation of new jobs,” Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Silvan Shalom said.
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ADL doesn’t acknowledge others’ work on Northeastern U. anti-Semitism, groups say
(JNS.org) The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) say the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) failed to acknowledge their work to combat anti-Semitism at Northeastern University in Boston, while taking credit for successes itself.
In a recent statement on the issue, leaders of ADL’s New England Region and Boston’s Jewish federation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, said, “Over the past year we have worked closely with officials at Northeastern regarding those concerns [of anti-Semitism]. Northeastern has devoted considerable resources to addressing this issue, and has done so in a thoughtful and responsible manner.”
Susan Tuchman, director of the ZOA Center for Law and Justice, explained that ZOA “prepared a letter back in July detailing all of the problems that Jewish students were suffering” at Northeastern. ADL followed up by sending Northeastern President Joseph Aoun its own letter, but “never sent us a copy of [their] letter, never reached out to us to work together on the issue,” Tuchman told JNS.org.
APT President Charles Jacobs told The Jewish Advocate of Boston that when ZOA and APT first brought up the issue of Northeastern anti-Semitism, ADL dismissed their concerns.
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ADL makes conflicting statements on existence of report on anti-Israel texts in Newton, Mass.
(JNS.org) Anti-Defamation League (ADL) officials made conflicting statements on the existence of a report by the organization about allegations of anti-Israel teaching materials in Newton, Mass., public schools.
Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) recently took out an advertisement in Boston-area newspapers publicizing research by community members on anti-Israel texts that have appeared in Newton schools.
Leaders from the ADL, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), and Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Boston’s Jewish federation) said in a recent statement that “based on a careful review of the materials at issue by ADL and JCRC, there is substantial reason to believe that the allegations made in the [APT] ad are without merit.” ADL officials, however, contradicted themselves on the existence of a report documenting the group’s “careful review” of the issue. In a Nov. 29 story by The Jewish Advocate of Boston, ADL New England Regional Director Robert Trestan said a report of ADL’s investigation does not exist, while ADL New England Region Board Chair Jeffrey Robbins said, “It’s an internal report. People do this stuff internally all the time. … It involves all kinds of proprietary research.”
“We don’t know if the ADL secured the curriculum from the Newton school committee in order to conclude, as they do, that there are no problems,” APT President Charles Jacobs told JNS.org. “They have not shared their ‘careful review’ of the materials with anyone, including reporters, calling it ‘proprietary.’ They seem to have had a greater urgency in defending school officials and the mayor than in getting the facts from parents and students.”
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Pope Francis will reportedly visit Israel in May
(JNS.org) Pope Francis will make his first visit to Israel as pontiff from May 25-26, CNN reported Nov. 28, citing an unnamed senior Israeli source.
When Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein urged him to visit Israel during an October meeting at the Vatican, Pope Francis replied, “I’ll come! I’ll come!”
Pope Francis has made Jewish-Christian relations a priority, continuing the legacy of his predecessors. On Nov. 26, he his released his widely anticipated first Apostolic Exhortation, which included a strong reaffirmation of dialogue with the Jewish people and an expression of regret for past anti-Semitism.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to Italy on Sunday for a two-day trip that was scheduled to include a meeting with Pope Francis.
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Chinese foreign minister to visit Israel in December
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Israel in December and will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as other senior government officials.
During the visit, scheduled for Dec. 17, the Israeli officials and Wang will discuss the interim agreement signed with Iran in Geneva, as Israel tries to weigh in on the final agreement world powers are trying to formulate with the Islamic Republic.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org