Bank of Israel keeps interest rate at 0.1%
(JNS.org) Israel’s benchmark interest rate for March will be left unchanged at 0.1 percent, the Bank of Israel announced Monday. Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug said the Israeli central bank’s quantitative easing and low interest rate will continue for “an extended period.”
The bank explained that its decision on the interest rate stemmed from encouraging data regarding the national job market, as shown in a new report by Israel’s Central Bureau Statistics. According to that report, unemployment stayed at 5.1 percent last month. Another key factor was the Israeli economy’s overall performance. The fourth quarter of 2015 saw an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent in the Jewish state, a pace that surprised many analysts.
The decision not to change the interest rate was influenced by the volatility in the capital markets in Israel and abroad, the bank added.
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IDF orders soldiers to take weapons with them on leave
(JNS.org) Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot has ordered all soldiers going on military leave for longer than three days to take their firearms with them, overturning previous regulations against the move.
“We will refresh instructions to soldiers on how to secure their firearms during their breaks,” an IDF source said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The new order comes following the stabbing death of Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman last week by two Palestinian terrorists. Weisman, 21, was killed while on military leave as he was shopping at the Rami Levy supermarket in Sha’ar Biyamin on Feb. 18. An armed civilian eventually rushed to the scene and shot both terrorists.
IDF Nahal Brigade Commander Col. Amos Hacohen has launched an investigation into Weisman’s death and will also review the military protocol on not allowing soldiers to leave bases with their firearms while on leave.
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U.S. and Russia announce Feb. 27 as date for Syrian cease-fire
(JNS.org) The United States and Russia have announced that a planned cease-fire in Syria will come into effect by midnight on Feb. 27, in the latest effort by world powers to end the bloody five-year-old Syrian civil war.
According to the White House, President Barack Obama had called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the cease-fire.
In a statement released after the call, the White House said the cease-fire will apply to “those parties to the Syrian conflict that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of its terms.”
Aside from Russian forces fighting in the country, this will also likely include the Syrian government as well as opposition groups.
But the cease-fire will not apply to two of Syria’s most lethal terror organizations, the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, raising questions on the effectiveness of the cease-fire.
“This is going to be difficult to implement,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed since the civil war began in March 2011, with tens of millions of Syrians being internally displaced and over four million fleeing abroad.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon expressed pessimism over the cease-fire attempt.
“It’s difficult to see the reality of a stable cease-fire, with all of the elements [in Syria] agreeing to it,” he said, Haaretz reported.
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London transportation body calls anti-Israel subway ads ‘vandalism’
(JNS.org) Trains in London’s subway system on Monday were plastered with advertisements from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, accusing Israel of massacring and torturing Palestinians as well as calling out British companies doing business with Israel, the London Jewish Chronicle reported.
Four ads were reportedly placed in 500 London trains for what anti-Israel activists call “Israeli Apartheid Week.” Transport for London, the body overseeing the London Underground transit system, said in a statement that the ads are “not authorized adverts,” which constitutes “an act of vandalism which we take extremely seriously. Our staff and contractors are working to immediately remove any found on our network.”
Israeli Member of Knesset Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), who spoke with London Mayor Boris Johnson about the anti-Israel ads, said that Johnson “explained that they were put up without authorization and [that the mayor] would give the instruction for them to be taken down immediately.”
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Last Treblinka Holocaust survivor eulogized by Israeli president
(JNS.org) Israel President Reuven Rivlin on Monday eulogized Samuel Willenberg, the last remaining survivor of the Treblinka death camp, who died Friday in Israel at the age of 93.
Willenberg was born in Poland in 1923. He was a teenager when the country was invaded by the Nazis in 1939. At age 19, he was sent to Treblinka, where on the advice of a fellow prisoner he posed as a bricklayer in order to survive. He was the only person among the Jews who were brought to the death camp on his transport who didn’t die in the gas chambers. He participated in the Treblinka revolt of 1943, managing to escape the camp. Later, in Warsaw, he joined the underground resistance and participated in the 1944 Warsaw Ghetto uprising. In 1950, he immigrated to Israel.
“Samuel, I came here today to tell you—you are a hero. And what a hero, Samuel. You are a symbol of heroism. A symbol for an entire generation of Holocaust survivors. Heroes. Strong and courageous people. Invincible. Optimistic. Who survived the destruction and could grow once again. Who experienced the horror and choose life,” Rivlin said.
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Trump cites Israeli fences in speech on proposed U.S.-Mexico immigration wall
(JNS.org) Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday mentioned Israel when commenting on his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, which he intends as a measure to combat illegal immigration.
“You could ask Israel about walls that work. Believe me, walls work,” Trump told a rally of his supporters in Atlanta, Reuters reported.
Israel’s West Bank security fence has prevented many Palestinian terror attacks inside of Israeli territory. In addition, a fence built along the Israeli-Egyptian border in the Sinai desert has helped reduce the number of African migrants illegally entering the Jewish state. Israel has also started the construction of a $77 million fence along its border with Jordan.
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