Israeli justice minister slams U.S. intervention in ‘internal legislation’
(JNS.org) Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked criticized the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv’s statements voicing concern over Israel’s recently proposed NGO transparency bill, saying the Obama administration is interfering with internal Israeli legislation.
The U.S. Embassy released two statements on Monday outlining U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro’s meeting with Shaked on Sunday, noting that the two discussed the bill and that the U.S. is concerned about its possible “chilling effect” on Israeli society.
The bill, sponsored by Shaked, requires NGOs that receive more than 50 percent of their funding from foreign governmental entities to detail the funding sources in all their official publications and communications with elected officials.
Critics call the legislation discriminatory because it is mainly left-wing groups that receive money from foreign governments and the European Union. Private funds from overseas are not addressed in the bill.
“Every Israeli organization has the right to oppose any legislation. But it is very surprising to me that foreign governments are sending their long arms into an internal legislation process,” Shaked said.
The NGO bill is currently up for discussion in the Knesset.
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Siri goes sabra: Apple voice system now in Hebrew
(JNS.org) Siri, Apple’s voice-activated personal assistant, now speaks Hebrew.
The Hebrew Siri is part of a preliminary version of Apple’s new iOS 9.3 operating system, which was released to developers in a beta version on Monday and will be released to the general public in about a month.
According to the Israeli technology website Gadgety, Siri’s Hebrew version does not support queries on Apple’s navigation app, Maps, but will be able to answer general questions. As this is a beta version, the one ultimately released to the general public could have more features. Malay and Finnish will also be supported in the new version. Siri currently supports more than 30 languages.
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Russia supplying Hezbollah with heavy weapons, terror group says
(JNS.org) Russia is directly providing the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah with heavy weapons, Hezbollah field commanders told The Daily Beast website.
“We are strategic allies in the Middle East right now—the Russians are our allies and give us weapons,” one Hezbollah commander was quoted as saying.
The commander said Russian airstrikes have changed the situation on the ground in Syria in recent months. As an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Hezbollah has sent many fighters to Syria to battle rebel groups in the civil war raging there since 2011.
“The intervention of the Russians made it much easier,” the Hezbollah commander said.
A different Hezbollah commander said Russia has not imposed any restrictions on how Hezbollah can use Russian weapons. This means the arms could be used against Israel.
“When it comes to Israel, Hezbollah doesn’t take directions from anyone,” he said.
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World Sailing to implement sanctions after Israelis excluded in Malaysia
(JNS.org) World Sailing plans to sanction any host nations who do not grant equal participation in competitions following an investigation into the actions of Malaysia, which restricted Israeli windsurfers from competing in the Youth World Sailing Championship earlier this month.
“In [the] future, the organizers of all international sailing competitions will be required to comply with specific conditions to ensure that all competitors from all countries can participate equally,” said Gary Jobson, World Sailing’s vice president, in a statement.
“If these conditions are not met, specific sanctions will be applied to any future international sailing competitions held in that country,” he said.
The Israel Sailing Association informed World Sailing last month that Israeli windsurfers Yoav Omer and Noy Drihan, as well as coach Meir Yaniv, could not compete under the Israeli flag in Malaysia nor use any symbols affiliated with Israel. The Israeli team also did not receive their visas to travel to Malaysia prior to the event.
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Catholic monastery desecrated in Israel
(JNS.org) A Catholic monastery near Beit Shemesh in Israel was vandalized for the second time in three years.
“Salesian fathers responsible for the monastery in Beit Jamal reported [on Saturday] that unknown persons desecrated their monastery’s cemetery,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.
Monks discovered that dozens of cruciform tombstones were knocked over and destroyed last month.
“We condemn this incident and remind all that this is not the first of its kind committed in recent years, most of which remain registered as if committed by ‘unknown assailants,’” said the Latin Patriarchate, adding, “Therefore, we urge the police, in specific, and the Israeli authorities, in general, to invest every possible effort to bring those responsible for these desecrations to justice as soon as possible.”
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TSA honors rabbi for improving airport screening for haredi Jews
(JNS.org) The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) honored Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel of America’s Washington director, for improving airport screening for haredi Jews.
The TSA said Cohen provided advice to personnel about Jewish beliefs and practices in order to “avoid mishaps and misunderstanding involving Jewish travelers.”
TSA hopes to avoid explicit x-ray imaging and unnecessary pat-downs of passengers, in addition to providing private rooms for searches and announcing special notices during Jewish holiday travel.
“Years ago, we would regularly receive calls from members of the community who were distraught over unfortunate incidents,” Cohen said. “The result of greater education has been greater sensitivity on both sides and a dramatic drop in airport mishaps—ultimately resulting in an appreciative TSA and observant Jewish community.”
An educational webinar on Judaism created by Cohen will be shown to TSA security personnel nationwide several times a year.
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