U.S. Jews feel more warmly about Netanyahu than Obama, poll finds
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) American Jews feel more warmly about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than U.S. President Barack Obama, a new poll says.
In the poll, commissioned by the left-wing J Street lobby, respondents were asked to quantify their feelings about the two leaders on a scale of 1-100, “with 100 meaning a very warm, favorable feeling; 0 meaning a very cold, unfavorable feeling.” Netanyahu’s rating was 56 and Obama scored 49. Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton got a 49 and Jeb Bush, the former Republican governor of Florida who is expected to launch a presidential bid, got 28.
Jews feel closer to the Democratic Party—which received a rating of 49—than to the GOP, which got a 29, according to the poll.
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Orange telecom CEO meets with Netanyahu following boycott controversy
(JNS.org) Stephane Richard, CEO of the French telecommunications giant Orange, visited Israel in an effort to repair ties following his recent controversial remarks in Cairo that suggested he would support a boycott of Israel “tomorrow” if he could.
Orange has a 10-year licensing agreement on cell phone service with Israel’s Partner Communications.
Meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, Richard said, “I regret deeply this controversy and I want to make totally clear that Orange as a company has never supported and will never support any kind of boycott against Israel.”
“We are doing business, we are doing communication, we are here to connect people, certainly not to participate in any kind of boycott,” he said. “Israel is a fantastic place to be in the digital industry and of course our will is to strengthen and to keep on investing here.”
Netanyahu told Richard that it is “no secret that the remarks you made last week were widely seen as an attack on Israel, and so your visit here is an opportunity to set the record straight.”
“We seek a genuine and secure peace with our Palestinian neighbors, but that can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions,” Netanyahu said. “It will not be achieved through boycotts and through threats of boycotts.”
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Israel to hold annual ceremony honoring Operation Protective Edge fallen
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Thursday adopted a recommendation from the Public Council for Commemorating Soldiers and decided to hold an official annual ceremony honoring the 67 IDF soldiers who were killed in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza last summer.
The defense minister made the decision on the basis of requests made by bereaved families of fallen soldiers. IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot supported the decision.
The first annual ceremony, scheduled for July 9, will be held at the military cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Ya’alon and the entire top echelon of the IDF are expected to attend.
The ceremony will be classified as official, but will not be a state ceremony, as Operation Protective Edge has not been officially labeled a war—instead, an operation. Should the Defense Ministry change its classification, a state ceremony would be possible.
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Bon Jovi signs contract to perform in Israel
(JNS.org) The American rock band Bon Jovi signed a contract in Germany that officially commits it to perform in Israel on Oct. 3, the concert’s producers announced at a press conference. The move marks the latest defeat for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement activists seeking to convince musicians not to perform in the Jewish state.
Bon Jovi’s performance in Israel for the final show of its Asian concert tour is the result of an effort by Guy Besser and Shay Mor Yosef of BlueStone Productions, in cooperation with promoter Marcel Avram, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
Additionally, though a final contract has not yet been signed, hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams—most recently known for his hit song “Happy”—is scheduled to perform at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park in September.
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Spanish parliament approves law granting citizenship to Sephardic Jews
(JNS.org) Spain’s Chamber of Deputies on Thursday approved a law aimed at granting citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled during the Spanish Inquisition.
On the floor of the parliament, Spanish Minister of Justice Rafael Catala and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo both declared that the historic decision is “repairing a 500-year injustice,” El Pais reported.
According to the law, the applicants would first need to prove their Sephardic background through either their local Jewish community or a direct family link. Authorities may also accept applicants with a Sephardic surname or the ability to speak Ladino, the Spanish-Hebrew hybrid language. Next, the applicants would need to show a special connection to Spain such as speaking Spanish, in addition to taking a basic test about the country.
The law is scheduled to take effect in October. Sephardic Jewish descendants in counties such as Venezuela and Turkey, who have faced rising levels of anti-Semitism and persecution in recent years, are seen as among those who are likely to apply for Spanish citizenship.
In a statement, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE) said the law began a “new stage in the history of the relationship between Spain and the Jewish world; a new period of encounter, dialogue, and harmony.”
“Contrary to what one might think, the descendants of those expelled have not harbored feelings of hatred or resentment but rather the contrary, they cultivated a deep love for the land they were from and intense loyalty to tradition and language received of their elders,” FCJE added.
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U.N. panel: Iran using satellite technology to advance ballistic missile program
(JNS.org) Iran has launched a space satellite that is using technology that could “contribute” to its ballistic missile program, which would be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, a panel of United Nations experts recently declared.
According to Fox News, Iran launched its “space launch vehicle” in February using a rocket that is a variant of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which has a range of about 1,000 miles.
The Shahab-3 missile is one of two missile types that experts believe “to be potentially capable of delivery of nuclear weapons.”
The panel noted that Iranian officials and state media have not been “reporting any new ballistic missile developments” such as the unveiling of new missile technology, but that satellite launches have been another matter.
For years, experts have warned that Iran’s space program could be cover for its ballistic missile program, which shares much of the same technology. The current negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany) are solely focused on Iran’s nuclear program and do not address its ballistic missile program.
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