IDF chief ‘deeply concerned’ about reserves’ readiness due to budget cuts
(JNS.org) Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Monday that he is “deeply concerned about the readiness of the reserves at the present time, as well as in the foreseeable future.”
Gantz has warned that the budget cuts already imposed on the military, and the Israeli Finance Ministry’s refusal to approve additional funds, will spell a serious blow to reservists’ training and the IDF’s overall emergency readiness.
Speaking at a ceremony honoring outstanding reservists, Gantz said the IDF “has made the regular [forces’] training its top priority not because reservists are unnecessary or unimportant, but because of [budgetary] constraints,” Israel Hayom reported.
“We are dealing with an unprecedented and highly complex human resources challenge and it may have dramatic effects of the IDF,” he said.
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Bulgarian PM meets with Israeli families of Burgas bombing victims
(JNS.org) Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski on Monday in Israel had an emotional meeting with families of the five Israeli victims of the 2012 Burgas bus bombing.
Oresharski gave the families the victims’ passports found at the scene of the bombing, which Bulgarian and Israeli authorities say was carried out by Hezbollah. He told the bereaved families that Bulgaria’s investigation into the bombing is continuing.
Kobi Preis, whose son Elior was killed in the attack, said, “We ask that the European Union decision to label only the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization be changed. How could they not label the entire organization as a terrorist organization?”
Preis added, “We really appreciate the fact that [Oresharski] came to meet with us.”
The bereaved families presented the Bulgarian prime minister with the gift of a goblet carved with the image of two hands holding the city of Jerusalem.
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Israeli runners forced to drop out of ‘peace run’ due to Palestinian objections
(JNS.org) Six Israeli runners taking part in Australian ultra-marathon runner Pat Farmer’s 900-mile “peace run” from Lebanon to Jerusalem were forced to drop out after objections by the Palestinian Olympic Committee during a stretch through Judea and Samaria.
Farmer said he was “not happy” about the move because it went against the spirit of the run. The Israelis, whose participation was organized by the Yesha Council and the land rights organizations Regavim, decided to continue their run without the group and concluded at Samaria-based Ariel University.
“It’s very sad that the Palestinian Authority would sooner attempt to hide the 375,000 Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, instead of throwing their support behind a genuine attempt to promote peace and coexistence,” Ari Briggs, director of Regavim, told Israel National News.
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More than 2,500 Jews make pilgrimage to ancient Tunisian synagogue
(JNS.org) More than 2,500 Jews last weekend made the pilgrimage to Tunisia’s ancient synagogue in Djerba, a tiny island that is home to Africa’s oldest synagogue and a small Jewish community.
Tunisian Interior Minister Muhammed Ali Laroui said the three-day pilgrimage to the El Ghriba Synagogue “exceeded all expectations,” the website Tunisien.tn reported.
The pilgrimage follows tension between Tunisia and Jewish tourists. In April, two Tunisian ministers were censured in country’s parliament for allowing Jewish tourists in with Israeli passports. In March, Norwegian Cruise Line said it would no longer stop in Tunisia after the country refused Israeli nationals the right to disembark.
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More than 2,500 Jews make pilgrimage to ancient Tunisian synagogue
(JNS.org) More than 2,500 Jews last weekend made the pilgrimage to Tunisia’s ancient synagogue in Djerba, a tiny island that is home to Africa’s oldest synagogue and a small Jewish community.
Tunisian Interior Minister Muhammed Ali Laroui said that the pilgrimage to the El Ghriba Synagogue “exceeded all expectations” and that Tunisia hopes the number of participants will double to 5,000-6,000 next year, the website Tunisien.tn reported.
The three-day pilgrimage, which was promoted Rene Trabelsi—a Tunisian-Jew who was considered for the country’s tourism minister post last January—has been controversial in Tunisia. Tourism Minister Amel Karboul and Deputy Interior Minister for Security Ridha Sfar were censured in April by Islamists and others in the Tunisian parliament for allowing Jewish tourists in with Israeli passports.
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Latin American clergy mission visits Syrian refugees in Israeli hospital
(JNS.org) An interfaith Latin American clergy mission visited the Ziv Medical Center in Tsfat, Israel, donating supplies to refugees who had been wounded in the Syrian civil war and evacuated to the Israeli hospital.
More than 293 Syrian patients have been treated at Ziv Medical Center. The clergy mission came to the hospital as a sign of interfaith goodwill just prior to Pope Francis’s May 24-26 visit to the Jewish state.
“This mission is one of the reflections of Pope Francis’s spirit when coming to the Holy Land next week; it shows how religions can work together to repair a broken world,” said a statement by David Nekrutman, executive director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC).
The mission was sponsored by the World Jewish Congress, the CJCUC, and the Latin American Jewish Congress.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org, which is sponsored on the pages of San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.