Middle East Roundup: March 15, 2016

U.S. lawmakers declare Islamic State crimes genocide

(JNS.org) The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday evening voted 393-0 in favor of a bipartisan resolution declaring that the Islamic State has committed genocide against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.

“ISIS is guilty of genocide,” Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said in a statement. “With this declaration today, the House has taken a very serious step. There is no reason for the administration to drag out its own genocide determination any longer.”

The resolution also calls on the Obama administration and the United Nations to recognize the atrocities of the Islamic State as genocide.

“It is my sincere hope that this trans-partisan resolution will further compel the State Department to join the building international consensus in calling the horrific ISIS violence against Christians, Yezidis and others by its proper name: ‘genocide,’” said Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) who introduced the measure.

A second measure of the resolution also said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime should be held accountable for its actions in the civil war over the past five years.

“More than 18,500 children are among the hundreds of thousands who’ve been killed by the chemical weapons, barrel bombs and firing squads unleashed by the Assad regime and its backers,” the statement claimed. “An international tribunal, like those established following the conflicts in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, is critical to ensuring peace and justice.”

 

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Christian-Jewish aid group donates $8.5 million to IDF

(JNS.org) The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) will donate $8.5 million to the Israeli Defense Forces to help families in need and lone soldiers.

“Unfortunately, the poverty rates that have afflicted so many Israelis have affected our soldiers as well,” said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president and founder of IFCJ.

“I am pleased that the IDF is acknowledging their need and is partnering with the IFCJ to make sure Israel’s bravest are able to serve in peace, knowing that they and their families are being provided for,” he added.

The package will include NIS 5.5 million ($1.41 million) distributed from IFCJ funds to help soldiers from poor families buy electrical appliances, furniture and other necessities. Additionally, 35,000 combat soldiers in basic training will be able to buy basic necessities with vouchers.

The IFCJ partnered with the IDF Manpower Directorate and the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers, who assist impoverished families.

“[The] IDF is the people’s army and, as such, enlists soldiers from all backgrounds,” said Maj.-Gen. Hagai Topolansky, head of the IDF Manpower Directorate.

“We take young women and men from impoverished backgrounds and turn them into able soldiers. The IFCJ and IDF are here to give a boost to those soldiers who need it. We are very grateful to Rabbi Eckstein for his expanded aid package.”

 

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Israeli scientists develop bionic heart patch

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) In a significant breakthrough, Israeli researchers from Tel Aviv University say they have engineered a bionic heart patch.

The “cyborg heart patch,” as it’s been dubbed, combines organic and engineered parts. The smart tissue is transplanted into patients where it monitors and regulates tissue function. The smart tissue will help the heart beat and intervene when it’s not functioning properly, and provide an exact and regular report to the patient and cardiologist.

Additionally, electronic particles interwoven into the tissue will also know how and when to release anti-inflammatory drugs, all in real time.

The patch’s research team was headed by Dr. Tal Dvir, who said heart diseases are the leading cause of death in the West, with heart attacks being most prevalent.

“Statistics show that 50 percent of those who suffered serious heart attacks will die within five years,” said Dvir. “What we are trying to do is invent alternative tissues to internal organs in general, and to engineer heart tissue specifically.”

Dvir and Feiner, of Tel Aviv University’s Biotechnology Department, Materials Science and Engineering Department, and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, published their findings in the journal Nature Materials on Monday.

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Israeli, US defense chiefs discuss security aid package

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met at the Pentagon on Monday with U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. Among other matters, Ya’alon and Carter discussed the new 10-year memorandum of understanding on U.S. security assistance to Israel that is currently being negotiated.

Other topics of discussion were recent developments in the Middle East and the deepening of ties between the Israeli and U.S. defense establishments.

Ya’alon and Carter agreed to increase cooperation in the cyber domain, with the goal of bolstering their nations’ cyber defense capabilities.

A Pentagon spokesman said Carter reaffirmed the “unshakable” U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and the importance of U.S.-Israel defense ties.

After the meeting, Ya’alon said, “Our bond with the U.S. is the cornerstone of our national security.” Ya’alon went on to call Carter a “true friend” who was “committed to Israel’s security.”

 

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Netanyahu: PA refuses deal with Israel for security control of West Bank

(JNS.org) An Israeli offer to reduce military operations in major Palestinian cities across the West Bank with the aim of bolstering the Palestinian Authority has been shelved after it was rejected by the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Clandestine negotiations have been held over the past few weeks involving a gradual restoration of Palestinian security control over West Bank cities. The proposal stipulated that the Israel Defense Forces would cease operating in Area A, which includes the larger Palestinian cities and villages, except for cases of extreme urgency referred to as “ticking bomb” situations. The plan suggested a pilot program of these steps would be implemented in Ramallah and Jericho.

However, Netanyahu said the Palestinian Authority rejected the proposal, Israel Hayom has learned. The prime minister called a meeting of Likud ministers at which he stressed the issue was “no longer relevant.”

Although the Oslo Accords call on the PA to control security in the West Bank, the IDF has been operating in Area A since 2002’s Operation Defensive Shield. Before Netanyahu’s announcement, a source close to Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett criticized the proposal because it outsources “the security of Israeli citizens to the Palestinian Authority,” Haaretz reported.

 

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Israeli scientist discovers method to stops uncontrolled bleeding

(JNS.org) An Israeli researcher has discovered a new method that can stop uncontrolled bleeding of victims suffering from deep wounds caused by stabbings, such as the knife attacks that have been rampant during the current Palestinian terror wave in Israel.

Gallium, a biometal, is normally used to stop bone loss in cancer patients, but in liquid form (gallium nitrate) it induces “flocculation” of the clotting protein in blood, resulting in external clot formation. This will significantly reduce the risk of deadly internal blood clots. Gallium can “dramatically increase the chances of survival by victims of terror or accidents,” as it quickly stops bleeding without causing blood clots, said Moshe Rogosnitzky, director of the Center for Drug Repurposing at Israel’s Ariel University and co-founder of the non-profit MedInsight Research Institute.

Rogosnitzky said that it is “vital to get this discovery from the lab to the clinic as quickly as possible. The sooner it gets to the market, the sooner it can be used effectively to save lives.”

An online fundraising campaign called “Stop the Bleeding” was launched by U.S.-based nonprofit We Fund the Cure to help researchers fund the clinical development of gallium and increase its availability.

“Gallium can provide instantaneous help to victims in Israel,” Rogosnitzky said. “Our goal is to place gallium in every first aid kit and every ambulance, ensuring that every stabbing victim has an increased chance of survival.”

 

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PA’s Abbas claims he will ‘never permit violent struggle against Israel’

(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday told Kuwaiti Scoop TV that he opposes violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is interested in negotiating directly with Israeli leaders.

“I will not enter a violent struggle. I will not ruin my people and my country. I will fight in the political field to reach my goal. I will never permit violent struggle against Israel and I am determined to prevent anyone from using weapons,” Abbas said in an interview conducted at his office in Ramallah.

Abbas admitted that the violence of the Palestinians’ second intifada (uprising) from 2000-2005 “ruined the country” and only gave the world “legitimacy to attack Palestinians.”

Palestinian Media Watch, however, has long documented how official radio and television stations from the PA as well as the Abbas-led Fatah faction consistently publish or air statements from Abbas and other Palestinian leaders declaring their support for violence against Israelis.

 

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4 Israeli soldiers wounded in Palestinian terror attacks in Kiryat Arba

(JNS.org) Three armed Palestinian terrorists on Monday attempted to run over and shoot Israelis who were waiting at a hitchhiking stop in Kiryat Arba near Hebron. In two attacks, a combined four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were lightly wounded and all three terrorists were shot dead.

In the first vehicular attack, two armed terrorists drove to a stop at Kiryat Arba, made a U-turn, and suddenly stopped. The terrorists exited the vehicle and opened fire at Israelis waiting at the stop, but IDF soldiers guarding the area shot dead the attackers.

Thirty minutes later, another Palestinian rammed his car into a bus traveling from Bnei Naim. IDF soldiers shot the terrorist dead before he was able to exit the vehicle.

Security sources said there was no connection between the two attacks.

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Vladimir Putin decides to withdraw Russian forces from Syria

(JNS.org) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday decided to withdraw Russian forces from Syria following a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

“I believe that the task put before the defense ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled. With the participation of the Russian military…the Syrian armed forces and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost all respects,” Putin reportedly told his government ministers.

“Therefore, I order effective tomorrow to start withdrawing the main part of our military factions from the Syrian Arab Republic,” he added.

Russia had been launching airstrikes in Syria during the last several months, targeting the Islamic State terror group and supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad amid that country’s civil war. Russia and Israel had coordinated to make sure their forces did not clash at the Israel-Syria border.

 

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Former NYC mayor Giuliani praises Israeli resilience, Trump on Jerusalem visit

(JNS.org) The World Jewish Congress and the Israel Council on Foreign Relations hosted former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in Jerusalem on Sunday. In a speech, Giuliani praised Israel’s resilience during the 1990s surge of Palestinian terror attacks on buses.

Israeli resilience helped him lift the moral of New Yorkers following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Giuliani said. “I came to Israel thinking I would lift morale, but I came back uplifted,” he said.

Giuliani said that America “should be 100 percent behind” Israel because the Jewish state is “fighting our battle on the front lines against Islamic terrorism.”

“It is almost unpatriotic not to love Israel,” he said.

Separately, in an interview with Israel Hayom, Giuliani called himself a “friend” and informal adviser for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“Sometimes he listens to me and sometimes he doesn’t, but he always takes my words into account,” Giuliani said, agreeing with Trump’s position that “Americans are disappointed, angry, and very depressed.”

 

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Israeli hiker finds 2,000-year-old Roman coin

(JNS.org) An Israeli hiker found a 2,000-year-old Roman-era coin in the eastern Galilee region, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Lori Rimon of Kibbutz Kfar Bloom found the coin and handed it over to the IAA. The coin displays the image of Roman Emperor Augustus and dates back to 107 CE. It is the world’s second known coin of its kind.

“It was hard to part with the coin,” Rimon said. “After all, it’s not every day that one finds such an amazing item, but I hope I can see it displayed in a museum in the near future.”

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