JNS news briefs: October 24, 2014

Palestinians say they will not postpone U.N. Security Council petition

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Chief Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat on Thursday denied reports that the Palestinians were willing to postpone by two months a petition to the U.N. Security Council calling for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank by November 2016.

The London-based media outlet Asharq Alawsat had reported that the Palestinians acquiesced to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s request to delay the petition and return to negotiations with Israel. The Palestinians reportedly stated that their condition for returning to negotiations would be for Israel to present a map with the borders of a future Palestinian state.

According to Erekat, the U.S. government relayed a message to the PA in Ramallah that the U.S. would use its veto power on any Palestinian proposal brought before the Security Council. Erekat warned that if the U.S. vetoes the Palestinian proposal, the Palestinians will stop all security coordination with Israel and will take unilateral measures, including joining international organizations and the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki also denied agreeing to postpone the U.N. Security Council petition. Maliki told Palestinian radio the PA would turn to the Security Council once they know they have secured the required nine of 15 affirmative votes. Maliki also said there is still no framework for getting Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table.

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Poll: 85% of Israelis want Arab MK Zoabi removed from Knesset

(JNS.org) The vast majority of Jewish Israelis would like to see Balad MK Hanin Zoabi removed from the Knesset, according to a new poll commissioned by Israel Hayom from the New Wave Research Institute.

Some 85 percent of Israelis said they would like to see Zoabi dismissed over her recent remarks comparing Israeli soldiers to Islamic State terrorists. Only 11 percent of those polled said her statement could be excused as free speech, while 4 percent said they had no opinion on the matter.

“[Zoabi] has crossed every possible line,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told Israel Hayom. “Zoabi doesn’t want to promote the inception of a Palestinian state—she wants to see our annihilation. I would think that all MKs, from Right to Left, would support her dismissal.”

The survey comprised a random pool of 500 Jewish Hebrew-speaking Israelis over the age of 18, and has a 4.4-percent margin of error.

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Israeli state comptroller launches review of Operation Protective Edge

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli State Comptroller Yosef Shapira on Thursday began his official review this summer’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. The review will scrutinize the decision-making process in the government and the Israel Defense Forces throughout the 50-day operation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Shapira about the matter on Thursday.

The State Comptroller’s Office announced the review of the Gaza campaign in August, saying it would follow guidelines set by Israel’s High Court of Justice as well as norms of international law.

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Two Israeli tourists reportedly killed in Nepal bus crash

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Less than two weeks after four Israelis were killed in an avalanche in Nepal, two Israeli tourists and at least nine other people reportedly died Friday when a bus fell down a mountainside en route from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, to the Langtang National Park.

According to local authorities, three “foreigners” were among the dead. More than 60 people had been on the bus, which plummeted about 330 feet off the road down a steep slope. Police were investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred about 30 miles west of Kathmandu. Poor maintenance of roads and vehicles contributes to many accidents in mountainous Nepal.

An initial investigation suggested, however, that the bus may have been overcrowded, which may have led to its fall. Local media outlets reported that some of the passengers had been traveling on the roof of the bus due to lack of space.

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Jerusalem conference promotes interfaith environmental activism

(JNS.org) More than 100 clergy members, seminary students, and others brainstormed how to use religion for environmental education and action at Wednesday’s Faith and Ecology Conference in Jerusalem. The event drew Jewish, Christian, and Muslim participants.

The conference was part of the United Planet Faith & Science Initiative, which is committed to bringing religious and scientific leaders together to address environmental issues such as climate change. In addition to the Jerusalem conference, the initiative is hosting events this year in New York and Lima (Peru’s capital).

Wednesday’s speakers included religious leaders from all three Abrahamic faiths, such as Bishop William Shomali from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Member of Knesset Rabbi Dov Lipman. Additionally, the conference hosted workshops as well as video sessions with pre-recorded addresses from the Dalai Lama and former U.K. Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

“We need to collaborate together—Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus. Ecology unites the religions. If we speak together as religious leaders, our impact is really stronger,” Shomali said.

“The holy city of Jerusalem sometimes goes astray to points of violence, but really we can make it a gate to Heaven. The world really belongs to God, and all of us are temporary residents in this world, which we have been given to take care of,” said former Knesset member Rabbi Michael Melchior, co-founder of the Knesset environmental caucus.

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Jerusalem police: ‘zero tolerance’ for continued violence

(JNS.org) A day after a Palestinian terrorist slammed his vehicle into pedestrians exiting Jerusalem’s light rail, killing an infant and injuring others, Jerusalem’s police force announced a new policy of “zero tolerance” against any violence as well as increased patrols around the city—especially in the riot-plagued eastern parts.

Wednesday’s attack was just the latest in a series of violent incidents that have taken place in Jerusalem in recent months, a trend that has been dubbed “The Quiet Intifada.” On a regular basis, Israeli pedestrians and drivers in Jerusalem have been assaulted with rocks and Molotov cocktails by Palestinian rioters. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered the Shin Bet security agency to search for and arrest rioters.

The Jerusalem Police said in a statement that it “will show zero tolerance to violence and stop anyone involved in disturbing the public order,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

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2016 Rio Olympics will be served by Israeli security company

(JNS.org) The Israeli security company ISDS has been selected to provide security during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The company has been given a $2.2 billion security budget for the event.

“We have a great challenge facing us,” ISDS Vice President Ron Shafran told Globes.

“We already have teams operating in Brazil, and unofficially operated there during the World Cup last summer,” he said. “Since it was announced that Brazil would host the Olympic Games, we have greatly expanded our activity in the country, and competed in this long and difficult tender. Our teams are already preparing for the Olympics, designing our security concept and building technological systems to be installed at the various facilities where the competitions will take place in Rio and four other regions around the country. The games will begin on August 5, 2016, and will continue until December 2016, including the special Olympics.”

Shafran said the company “will integrate the entire security system at the games” and “determine the specifications for the necessary security system,” then integrate “the right technologies from Israel and the rest of the world.”

“We’ll also include small and medium-sized Israeli companies—ones with big solutions,” he said. “We’ll let these companies take part in this rare opportunity and benefit from a fitting stage for displaying their technologies in intelligence, mass traffic management, etc. This whole business will be an incubator for Israeli technologies and solutions in these areas.”

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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World courtesy of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman