91-year-old Israeli man wins world championship in running for seniors
(JNS.org) Three months after being named European champion, 91-year-old Israeli long-distance runner Semion Simkin on Monday won the world championship for senior runners in Lyon, France.
Simkin finished the 6.2-mile race with a time of 1:20:01, beating the runner-up from Argentina by 21 minutes and 26 seconds. A day earlier, Simkin won the silver medal in the 3.1-mile race.
“This is a scenario I never even dreamed of. I hope that in the future I will still have the strength to continue and to bring honor to Israel,” Simkin said after his victory, Israel Hayom reported.
Simkin, who was born in Belarus and survived the Holocaust, is a father of two, grandfather of four, and great-grandfather of six. Despite being legally blind, he prefers competing without any concessions on his behalf.
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Netanyahu names former Italian lawmaker as Israel’s next ambassador to Rome
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Fiamma Nirenstein, a former member of the Italian parliament, as Israel’s next ambassador to Italy.
Nirenstein, an Italian Jew born in Florence, is a journalist who was elected to the Italian parliament in 2008 as a member of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom party. She headed the parliament’s Committee for the Inquiry into anti-Semitism.
Considered to be one of the leading European pro-Israel voices, Nirenstein was elected as head of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians in 2011 and made aliyah in 2013. She has published 10 books in Italian and two in English.
“I am happy to accept this mission that the prime minister has set before me, to strengthen relations between Israel and Italy. I promised the prime minister that I would do everything in my ability to strengthen the brave links between the two countries,” Nirenstein said.
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Palestinians and Iran agree to disarm Israel’s alleged nukes
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Iran have agreed to work together in holding an international conference on the nuclear disarmament of Israel, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said.
PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani recently visited Iran, where he met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Zarif and agreed to hold a conference to rid the region of Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Majdalani also delivered a letter from PA President Mahmoud Abbas to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and voiced support for the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. He said his talks with Iran also focused on the Israeli “assaults” against Palestinians.
An Israeli government official said the meeting raised questions about the PA’s commitment to peace.
“The PA’s alliance with Iran proves that its issue with Israel is not about borders or settlements, but rather the Jewish state’s right to exist,” the official said.
Israel is believed to be the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear arsenal, but has never confirmed or denied its possession.
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On Temple Mount, Israeli police arrest violent Palestinian guard amid clashes
(JNS.org) Israeli police arrested a Palestinian guard on the Temple Mount during a clash over the refusal to permit a Palestinian youth group from entering the compound.
A Palestinian Temple Mount security guard affiliated with the Islamic Waqf was arrested by the Israeli Border Police when he tried to attack them, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. Israeli police used pepper spray to subdue the individual.
Palestinian media said the youths were from a summer camp, but Israeli police claimed they planned to disturb the peace on the Temple Mount.
The Islamic Waqf is a Jordanian religious group that manages the Temple Mount site with the assistance of the Israeli police. Monday’s clashes are the latest flare-up in an ongoing pattern of tension at the holy site.
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Syrian Christian families flee new onslaught by Islamic State
(JNS.org) Hundreds of Syrian Christian families fled their homes in the central Syrian town of Sadad over the weekend over fears of a new onslaught by the Islamic State terror group.
“People are living in fear in the area,” said Osama Edward, the director of the Christian Assyrian Network for Human Rights in Syria, the Associated Press reported.
Edward added that many Syrian Christians fear the same fate that Iraqi Christians and Yazidis faced when they were told by Islamic State to convert to Islam or die.
Meanwhile, Islamic State terrorists last week reportedly overran the town of Al-Qaryatain, where they captured 230 residents, including dozens of Christians.
“Daesh (Islamic State) kidnapped at least 230 people, including at least 60 Christians, during a sweep through Al-Qaryatain,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Many Christians from the Aleppo province had fled to Al-Qaryatain to seek refuge. Those who were abducted were wanted by Islamic State for “collaborating with the regime” and were hunted down by the jihadist group.
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Israeli officials reject Obama claim that Netanyahu is meddling in U.S. affairs
(JNS.org) Israeli officials on Monday rejected a claim by President Barack Obama that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is intervening in American affairs with his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.
In a CNN interview on Sunday, Obama was asked if Netanyahu has “injected himself forcefully” into Washington affairs, and he replied “right.” When asked whether this was appropriate, Obama said, “I’ll let you ask Prime Minister Netanyahu that question if he gives you an interview,” and that “I don’t recall a similar example” of a foreign leader meddling in U.S. affairs.
Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold told Army Radio that Israel is “looking at what the implications of the [nuclear] deal are,” and that Netanyahu has “a duty to warn the U.S. public and the world of the implications of the deal.”
“Everyone is talking with everyone and we are part of that debate. That is just the way it is. The idea that Israel can give its opinion in public appearances and television programs and even on Capitol Hill is a very legitimate thing,” he said.
Additionally, a senior Israeli official categorically denied Obama’s assertion by stating that Israel “is not meddling in internal American affairs,” the Times of Israel reported.
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Israel boycott activists in uproar over Tel Aviv-style beach event in Paris
(JNS.org) Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists in France are opposing this year’s version of the 13-year-old Parisian tradition to transform the beach on the banks of the River Seine to a foreign beach, because this year the area will be transformed into a Tel Aviv beach with falafel stands, Israeli music, and nightlife.
The Aug. 13 event, dubbed “Tel Aviv on Seine” and organized by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, is a collaboration with Cool Israel, a company marketing Israel to French tourists.
Local politician Danielle Simmonet of the left-wing Parti de Gauche party has said the event should be cancelled because it is planned just one year after “the massacre in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army,” the International Business Times reported.
Additionally, Twitter has been overflowing with posts calling to nix the event under the hashtag #TelAvivSurSeine, which became the most popular French social media hashtag last weekend.
“Let me be very clear about this—the overtones are obviously anti-Semitic,” French lawmaker Eric Ciotti, who represents France’s Alpes-Maritimes region for the Les Républicains party, said regarding the reaction to the beach event, Europe 1 radio reported.
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