Israel urges Passover travelers to avoid Turkey, crowded places in Europe
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Ahead of the Passover holiday, with more than 1 million Israelis preparing to jet off for vacations abroad, the Counterterrorism Bureau in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office updated its semiannual travel warnings to include 34 countries and 10 regions.
Given the Islamic State terror group’s threats to execute more attacks in Europe, paired with the lack of a specific alert, the bureau is asking Israelis traveling to that continent to avoid crowded places such as soccer stadiums, cultural sites, shopping centers, and airports. The warning reiterates that Israelis should avoid Turkey and urges anyone who is planning a trip there to cancel their reservations. In March, a suicide bombing in Istanbul killed three Israeli tourists.
An urgent warning against Israelis traveling to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula remains in place. The country’s security establishment is concerned that Islamic State could execute terrorist attacks against tourists there, and against Israelis in particular. Travel warnings are also in place for vacations to Aqaba on the Red Sea, Jordan, and elsewhere in Egypt, all places Israelis are advised to avoid unless urgent business requires their presence there.
The Counterterrorism Bureau stresses that “situation assessments are published as a public service at the start of the 2016 spring-summer tourist season. It’s important to note that these aren’t new travel warnings, with the exception of the warning about Turkey, which has recently been upgraded….The travel warnings are based on solid, reliable information that reflects a real threat based on the broader intelligence picture for the given time period.”
Israel approves Egyptian-Saudi deal on Red Sea islands, defense minister says
(JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that Israel has signed off on a recent agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia to exchange sovereignty of two strategic islands at the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba.
“An appeal was made to us—and it needed our agreement, [and the agreement of] the Americans, who were involved in the peace agreement and of the MFO (Multinational Force and Observers),” Ya’alon said, referring to the United Nations’ Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping force in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Haaretzreported.
“We reached an agreement between the four parties—the Saudis, the Egyptians, Israel, and the United States—to transfer the responsibility for the islands, on condition that the Saudis fill in the Egyptians’ shoes in the military appendix of the peace agreement,” said Ya’alon.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman recently made a five-day visit to Egypt, where it was announced that Egypt would hand over sovereignty of the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, while the Saudis will provide $16 billion in aid to Egypt.
The uninhabited islands that sit on the southern entry to the Gulf of Aqaba were originally given to Egypt in 1950 by Saudi Arabia, in order to protect them from Israel. Later, the islands played an important role in setting off the 1967 Six-Day War when Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships, thereby preventing Israeli access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. As a result, United Nations peacekeepers maintain a presence on Tiran as part of the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty.
Ugandan Jewish community gains official recognition from Jewish Agency
(JNS.org) A group of converts to Judaism in Uganda has gained official recognition from the Jewish Agency for Israel.
In a letter to Rabbi Andrew Sacks, who serves as the head of the Conservative movement in Israel, the Jewish Agency confirmed that “as of 2009, we view the Abayudaya in Uganda as a recognized community registered with the Masorti-Olami world Conservative movement,” Haaretz reported.
Additionally, the letter also stated that the Jewish Agency recognizes the authority of Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, who serves as the spiritual head of the Ugandan Jewish community.
The recognition paves the way for Uganda’s Jewish community to become eligible for Israeli citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return. The recognition also will allow members of the community to obtain visas from Israel’s Interior Ministry in order to study at yeshivas in the Jewish state.
The Abayudaya Jewish community originally splintered off from Christianity in the early 20th century, when its members began observing Jewish laws and customs. In 2002, the 1,500-member community was formally converted to Judaism by a Conservative rabbinical court. Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, however, only accepts Orthodox conversions.
Jordan’s King Abdullah to fund restoration of Christ’s Tomb in Jerusalem
(JNS.org) Jordan’s King Abdullah has announced that he will personally fund the restoration of Christ’s Tomb, which is located inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem.
“This is excellent news, news of a highly symbolic character, since the Holy Sepulchre is the most sacred place for Christians of all confessions,” said Latin Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem Bishop William Shomali, Vatican Radio reported.
“This decision shows the kindness of the King towards Christians and his constant concern to preserve the heritage of Christianity, including his role as guarantor of the Holy Places, Christian and Muslim, Jerusalem, according to the Wadi Araba agreement,” added Shomali.
According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the aedicle, which is the traditional place of burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, will be the site of the restoration. The aedicle was originally constructed in the early 19th century by the Greek Orthodox community and has remained untouched since 1947, when the ruling British Mandate put in place steel support beams as part of a restoration project that never took place.
The Latin Patriarchate said that restoration work was needed because reports revealed grave structural problems due to moisture from the “condensation of the breath of visitors” and oxidation from candle smoke.
Abdullah’s funding will be disbursed to a Greek restoration team led by Professor Antonia Moropoulou of the National Technical University of Athens.
Palestinian Authority stops smuggling of statue of King Herod’s wife into Israel
(JNS.org) Three Palestinians were arrested by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces on Monday for attempting to smuggle an ancient statue of King Herod’s second wife from a Palestinian village into Israel.
“Based on intelligence information, security forces burst on Sunday into a home in Zeita, a village in north Tulkarm, and carried out a complicated security operation, during which they arrested three archaeologists and confiscated the statue,” said a statement from the Palestinian Preventive Security Services (PPS).
Archaeologists had been negotiating to sell the statue of Mariamne I, King Herod’s second wife, for $600,000 to an Israeli-Arab merchant. The PPS said that the operation to arrest the smugglers “is part of the tireless efforts invested by the PA to protect archaeological treasures and prevent their smuggling to Israel, which attempts to distort and steal Palestinian history.”
The statue is 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) high and valued at almost $1 million. King Herod ruled in Judea for 33 years and reconstructed the Second Temple of the Jewish people.
Pope Francis’s skullcap goes to auction to raise money for Israeli charity
(JNS.org) Pope Francis’s white skullcap was donated to an online auction to raise money for an Israeli charity, Save a Child’s Heart (SACH).
The pope’s cap (calotte), expected to bring in $36,000, was famously seen when the pope traded skullcaps with an Italian television show host in Rome two years ago. The journalist who offered the pope a similar skullcap in the exchange is now selling it to raise money. The online auction house involved in the process, Catawiki, said a large part of the proceeds and commission feeds will be donated to SACH.
“It is extremely rare that a religious symbol of this magnitude goes up for auction,” Catawiki auctioneer Frederik James said. “This auction is a unique opportunity for museums, collectors, and devout Catholics to acquire ‘a relic in the making’ and also to help others by donating money to Save a Child’s Heart. Given the pope’s following, we expect to see an influx of bids from across the globe.”
SACH seeks to improve cardiac care for children from developing countries. About 50 percent of the children receiving medical care through SACH each year come from the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Iraq, and Morocco.
(JNS.org) About 350 top British and Israeli medical researchers met this week in Oxford, England, for the third annual BIRAX Conference, which was organized by the U.K.-Israel Science Council.
The majority of the researchers (250) were British, representing 33 institutions from the United Kingdom.
“There is no substitute for international collaboration between scientists, and U.K.-Israeli partnerships are no exception. As a founding member of the U.K.-Israel Science Council, I see scientists from both countries meet, discover, and grow through partnerships like BIRAX that advance medical research. The results benefit not only both countries, but the entire world,” said Prof. Ada Yonath of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science.
BIRAX is a bilateral research initiative that focuses on developments in regenerative medicine to fight diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart conditions. The annual conference strives to create more opportunities for collaboration between British and Israeli scientists.
“Through existing, new, and upgraded programs, hundreds of U.K. and Israeli researchers are working together on some of this generation’s greatest challenges, from access to clean water to some of the toughest diseases to cure,” said Prof. Raymond Dwek of Oxford University, the co-chair of the U.K.-Israel Science Council.
*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman. Comments intended for publication in this space must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)