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WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 

 

 

On Topic Links

           

Iran in Syria: Editorial, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 28, 2017

If You Want to Accuse Someone of Prejudice, Use the Right Word: John Robson, National Post, Aug. 23, 2017

This Missile Could Reach California. But Can North Korea Use It With a Nuclear Weapon?: New York Times, Aug. 22, 2017

The Greatest Danger with North Korea is Accidental War: Mitchell Lerner, Washington Post, Aug. 24, 2017

 

 

WEEKLY QUOTES

 

"The U.N. has failed with regard to Israel. UNESCO is making a mockery of world heritage when it denies the Jewish people's connection to Jerusalem…The U.N. is in charge of peace, but it allows Palestinian hatred to flourish in its institutions. The time has come to restore moral clarity to the U.N." — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who arrived in Israel on a three-day visit. This is Guterres' first visit to the Jewish state since taking office. The meeting focused largely on Iran's efforts to entrench itself militarily in Syria and Hezbollah's armament efforts in Lebanon.  Iran is building sites to produce precision-guided missiles in Syria and Lebanon, with the aim of using them against Israel, Netanyahu told Guterres. He further warned that Iran was turning Syria into a "base of military entrenchment as part of its declared goal to eradicate Israel…This is something Israel cannot accept. This is something the U.N. should not accept," Netanyahu said. (Washington Post, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

“We are seeking a dramatic change in the way the UN treats Israel. It’s time to place the issue squarely on the table and address it head-on…if the UN does not drastically change its behavior it will lose both support and funding…It’s no longer just us threatening this…The US position has changed. Led by Nikki Haley, they have made clear that they will not tolerate bias against us and will no longer be giving an open check.” — Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Briefing journalists ahead of Guterres’ first visit to Israel, Hotovely said two key issues would be addressed during the visit: ending “anti-Israel bias” at the UN, and changing the UNIFIL mandate for UN activities on Israel’s northern border. (Times of Israel, Aug. 27, 2017)

 

"General Beary says there are no Hezbollah weapons…That’s an embarrassing lack of understanding on what’s going on around him…Hezbollah openly brags about their weapons. They parade them before TV cameras. The secretary general’s reports have confirmed this. For the UNIFIL commander to deny it…shows that we need to have changes in UNIFIL." — Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the UN. Haley leveled harsh criticism at Irish Major General Michael Beary, the commander of UN forces in Lebanon, accusing him of turning a blind eye to Iran's covert arming of Hezbollah. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 25, 2017)

 

“Today, the relationship with Iran is excellent, or very excellent…Thousands of people work every day to make rockets, (dig) tunnels and train frogmen…The relationship with Iran is in this context.” — Yehiyeh Sinwar, Hamas’ new leader in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar said his group has repaired relations with Iran after a five-year rift and is using its newfound financial and military aid to gear up for new hostilities with Israel. Iran was once the top backer of Hamas, but Hamas broke with Iran in 2012 after the group refused to support Iran’s close ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. During a four-hour meeting with journalists, Sinwar said those ties have been restored and are stronger than ever. He added that the Islamic Republic is “the largest backer financially and militarily” to Hamas’ military wing. Before the 2012 breakup, Iran provided an estimated $50 million a month to Hamas. (National Post, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

“We are not going to state what the outcome has to be…It has to be workable to both sides. That’s the best view as to not really bias one side over the other, to make sure that they can work through it.” — U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Committing to the two-state solution would bias Washington in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Nauert said last week, as a high-level delegation arrived in the region. Her comments came as Palestinians have increasingly complained over the White House’s refusal to endorse the two-state solution, breaking with longstanding US policy and an international consensus. Nauert’s comments appeared to reflect recognition of a lack of support for the two state solution in Israel’s government. (Times of Israel, Aug. 24, 2017)

 

“The BDS movement does not only strongly resemble the ‘Don’t buy from Jews’ argumentation of former times of the National Socialists, but the movement is built on the same toxic ground and it is poisoning the social climate in the same dangerous way…That’s why we decided to ban any municipal funding or the renting of rooms for any activities of groups or individuals, who support the antisemitic BDS movement….We also instructed our city-owned companies and called upon private landlords to act in the same way.” — Uwe Becker, Frankfurt’s deputy mayor and city treasurer. Frankfurt has become the first German city to pass a bill outlawing municipal funding for the anti-Israel BDS movement’s activities. Frankfurt, which has a population of about 730,000, is the main financial and economic center of Germany. Munich is expected to pass a similar measure. (Algemeiner, Aug. 27, 2017)

 

“If Republicans on Capitol Hill get nothing done and continue to be attacked by their party’s president, their reelection will be endangered. Mr. Trump may be ensuring that Democrats retake Congress in 2018. Does he understand that the first thing they’ll do when they assume power is launch investigations and move to impeach him? They’ll do it for at least two reasons. One is that hating Mr. Trump is one of the few things that unites their party. The other is that busying themselves with impeachment will allow Democratic leaders to avoid hard fights over what their own party stands for. For it too is warring and riven. But Democrats don’t have to face that while they’re busy with the Trump Removal.” — Peggy Noonan. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 26, 2017)

 

Contents

 

 

SHORT TAKES

 

U.S. REPORTEDLY CONFIRMS FUNDING OF UNRWA WILL CONTINUE (Washington) — President Trump has promised that annual U.S. funding of $300 million to a UN agency that caters solely to Palestinian refugees will not be halted. The decision puts the US at odds with the Israel. While Israel has historically recognized the stabilizing role played by UNRWA in providing key services to the 750,000 Palestinian refugees and their descendants — who now number around five million people — more recently, it has urged that the agency be dissolved into the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which caters to the remainder of the world’s current 65 million refugees. Canada also announced that it will provide a further $25 million to the agency. (Algemeiner, Aug. 25, 2017)

 

US DENIES YIELDING TO PALESTINIAN DEMANDS (Washington) — A White House official denied reports that the US had made a commitment to submit a plan to advance the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians, in exchange for a Palestinian commitment to hold back on their threat to take unilateral diplomatic initiatives against Israel. A senior Palestinian official said that such a deal was reached between Jared Kushner, a top adviser to Trump, and PA head Abbas during their meeting in Ramallah. The Palestinians have expressed displeasure and set preconditions, including an ultimatum that unless progress towards a two-state solution is made within 45 days, the Palestinians will consider themselves no longer committed to US mediation. (World Israel News, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

RABBIS CANCEL ANNUAL CALL WITH TRUMP (Washington) — Top rabbis are refusing to hold an annual call with Trump over his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va. Rabbis from four Jewish organizations said they won’t hold the annual call with the president to mark the upcoming Jewish holidays because they found his response was “lacking in moral leadership and empathy.” The rabbis — representing groups like the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Rabbinical Assembly — said they pray that he “will recognize and remedy the grave error he has made in abetting the voices of hatred.” Trump is facing backlash after he blamed “both sides” for the violence. One woman was killed and more than a dozen others injured when a car was driven into counterprotesters. (The Hill, Aug. 23, 2017)

 

COURT SENDS 5 RELATIVES TO PRISON FOR FAILING TO STOP MURDERER (Jerusalem) — A court convicted five relatives of Omar al-Abed, the 20-year-old terrorist who murdered three members of the Solomon family in Neveh Tzuf last month, of failure to prevent a crime. The five, his mother, father, two of his brothers and an uncle, were convicted because the court ruled they had known of his intention to carry out the attack and did not inform authorities to prevent it. The indictments were filed after it was determined that they had read Al-Abed’s Facebook post before the attack, in which he declared that he he intended to carry out an attack. (Jewish Press, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

SUICIDE ATTACK ON SHIA MOSQUE IN KABUL KILLS AT LEAST 30 (Kabul) — A suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of a Shia Muslim mosque in Afghanistan's capital as other attackers stormed the building, killing at least 30 people as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. I.S., which has launched several attacks against minority Shia targets in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility, the jihadist group's news agency said. Police said they rescued more than 100 worshippers. (CBC, Aug. 25, 2017)

 

I.S. CLAIMS BRUSSELS KNIFE ATTACK ON SOLDIERS (Brussels) — I.S. claimed the knife attack against soldiers in Brussels, an assault that came just hours before a sword-wielding assailant wounded police outside London's Buckingham Palace. The knifeman in Brussels, who hurt a soldier on Friday in what authorities said was an "attempted terrorist murder", was shot dead, while police in London overpowered a man who injured three unarmed officers outside the royal residence with a four-foot (1.2-metre) blade. The two attacks come as much of Europe is on high alert following a string of deadly assaults over the past two years – most of which have been claimed by jihadists. (Telegraph, Aug. 27, 2017)

 

LEBANESE BEAUTY QUEEN STRIPPED OF TITLE FOR VISITING ISRAEL (Beirut) — The winner of a Lebanese beauty pageant has been stripped of her title after it was revealed she had visited Israel. Dual Swedish-Lebanese citizen Amanda Hanna, who won the Miss Lebanon Emigrant 2017 competition earlier this month, was told she would be stripped of her title after visiting Israel, using her Swedish passport on an academic trip in 2016. It is illegal for Lebanese citizens to travel to the Jewish state. In 2015, Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, nearly lost her title after she posted a photo on social media appearing with Miss Israel. Lebanon also banned the blockbuster “Wonder Woman” movie due to the casting of Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress, in the movie’s lead role. (United With Israel, Aug. 24, 2017)

 

PORN STAR CLAIMS I.S. THREATENED TO BEHEAD HER (New York) — I.S. threatened to behead Lebanese-American porn star Mia Khalifa with a mocked-up execution photo. The terrorist group sent a “photoshopped picture of me being beheaded” via social media, and “threatened that would happen to me,” Khalifa said. The mocked up shot shows the porn-star turned sports pundit’s head pasted onto the body of a prisoner in an image taken from an I.S. execution video. Khalifa’s controversial performances during a three-month stint in the porn industry catapulted her into the limelight. She now lives in Austin, TX, and has millions of followers on Instagram and Twitter. (New York Post, Aug. 26, 2017)

 

BERLIN MAYOR MAY BE INCLUDED ON LIST OF ANTISEMITIC/ANTI-ISRAEL CASES (Berlin) — The Simon Wiesenthal Center is considering the inclusion of Berlin’s Mayor Michael Mueller on its list of the top-10 worst cases of anti-Israel and antisemitic activity in 2017 because of an epidemic BDS in the German capital. Berlin has been a hotbed of pro-BDS and antisemitic activities, including nearly 600 Hezbollah supporters and members who marched in Berlin’s al-Quds Day rally calling for the destruction of Israel. Mueller declined to criticize the al-Quds Day. Mueller also declined to oppose a planned fund-raising event for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and EU. The PFLP has murdered scores of Israelis since the 1970’s. Its supporters operate in Berlin and have held events in Berlin. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

GERMAN MAGAZINE SLAMMED FOR TRUMP “NAZI SALUTE” COVER (Berlin) — This week’s cover of a popular German news magazine depicting President Trump draped in the U.S. flag while giving a Nazi salute is drawing criticism from a prominent Jewish group. Stern magazine’s illustration is part of a cover story headlined “Sein Kampf,” which translates as “His Struggle” and is a play on Adolf Hitler’s infamous “Mein Kampf.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center said “the depiction of the president as a latter-day Hitler by a major German publication is untrue and beyond the pale.” It says “Germans must surely know that by misappropriating” Nazi symbols “they belittle and becloud” past crimes. (Washington Post, Aug. 25, 2017)

 

TURKEY CHARGES US PASTOR (Istanbul) — An American pastor imprisoned in Turkey for nearly a year on what he says are trumped-up terrorism charges is facing new charges, including espionage. Pastor Andrew Brunson was detained in October and then accused of “membership in an armed terroristic organization." Last week, the government filed four new charges against Brunson, including acquiring secret political and military information and attempting to overthrow the Turkish Parliament. Brunson has denied all the charges. The pastor, who has lived and worked in Turkey as a missionary for 23 years, was pastoring a Presbyterian congregation in Izmir when he was detained Oct. 6. (Fox News, Aug. 29, 2017)

 

NEXT TARGET GUAM, NORTH KOREA SAYS (Pyongyang) — North Korea's launch of a missile over Japan was a prelude to more military operations directed at the American territory of Guam, North Korean state media warned. The country's state-run news agency reported leader Kim Jong Un presided over the launch Tuesday of the "ultra-modern rocket system," the first missile ever fired from the capital Pyongyang. The intermediate-range missile, identified by the North Koreans as the Hwasong-12, flew over Japan, further fueling tensions between North Korea and the United States and its allies, Japan and South Korea. Early Wednesday, the US conducted a test intercept of a medium range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii, according to a statement from the US Missile Defense Agency. (CNN, Aug. 30, 2017)

 

TIME TO JOIN U.S. BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE: DALLAIRE (Ottawa) — Retired general and senator Romeo Dallaire says Canadians can't just assume the U.S. will shoot down a missile heading towards Canada, and that it is time for this country to finally embrace continental missile defence. His comments come amid growing concerns that Canada could be caught in the middle of a conflict between the U.S. and North Korea. The U.S. invited Canada to join its continental missile-shield system more than a decade ago, but then-prime minister Paul Martin opted against it in 2005 following an extremely divisive national debate. Since then, Canada has sat on the sidelines as the U.S. has spent more than $100 billion building a series of land- and sea-based interceptors that could stop the type of limited attack North Korea might launch. (CTV, Aug. 24, 2017)

 

ISRAEL TO BUY 17 NEW F-35 (Jerusalem) — Israel will purchase an additional 17 Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighter aircraft. The acquisition will bring the number of F-35s in service in Israel to 50 and complete the Israel Air Force’s second F-35 fighter wing, at a cost of under $100 million per aircraft. The planes will be delivered by the end of 2024. Lockheed Martin says the F-35 is a 5th Generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Israel has so far taken delivery of five F-35s, the first batch of a 33-plane order to be delivered by the end of 2021. (Breaking Israel News, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

US ARMY CLOSE TO GIVING GO-AHEAD TO INSTALL ISRAELI TANK TECHNOLOGY (Washington) — After testing Israel’s Trophy active protection system, the US Army is close to having it installed on the M1A1 Abrams tank. The US Army would then be the first army outside the IDF to use the system. Designed to detect and neutralize incoming projectiles, the Trophy system has four radar antennas and fire-control radars to track incoming threats such as antitank guided missiles (ATGMs) and rocket-propelled grenades. Once a projectile is detected, the Trophy system fires a shotgun-type blast to neutralize the threat. The Trophy Active Protection System (APS) is installed on Israel’s Merkava tanks and is the only fully operational and combat-proven APS in the world. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 29, 2017)

 

GILEAD BUYS KITE PHARMA, FOUNDED BY ISRAELIS, FOR $11.9 BILLION (Jerusalem) — The almost $12 billion that Gilead Sciences agreed to pay for Kite Pharma is testament not only to Israeli innovation but also to the entrepreneurship of Kite’s Israeli founder and CEO, Prof. Arie Belldegrun. Gilead said it had agreed to pay $11.9 billion in cash for Kite, which is based in California and is developing immunotherapy-based cancer treatments. Kite’s biggest shareholder is the U.S fund Capital group, which holds 19.9 percent of the company. The biggest Israeli stockholder is Menorah Insurance, with a 2 percent stake worth $222 million. (Ha’aretz, Aug. 29, 2017)  

 

ISRAELI DOCTORS IMPLANT DEVICE FOR CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE (Jerusalem) — Millions of people around the world suffer from congestive heart failure, which occurs when the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to maintain blood flow. However a new Israeli patent, implemented for the first time at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center, can change this situation said the cardiologist who invented it. Robert McClaken, 72, of Canada recently made history by becoming the first person to undergo the surgery for cardiac insufficiency. McClaken reported a significant improvement in his condition and in a few days he will be discharged and return home to Canada. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 29, 2017)

 

EMPEROR JUSTINIAN MOSAIC INSCRIPTION UNEARTHED NEAR DAMASCUS GATE (Jerusalem) — A 1,500-year-old mosaic floor, with a Greek inscription, was discovered this summer following groundwork for cable infrastructures near the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to Dr. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University, “This inscription commemorates the founding of the building by Constantine, the priest. The inscription names the emperor Flavius Justinian. It seems that the building was used as a hostel for pilgrims.” Di Segni added, “‘Indiction’ is an ancient method of counting years, for taxation purposes. Based on historical sources, the mosaic can be dated to the year 550/551 AD.” (Jewish Press, Aug. 23, 2017)

 

HELP THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF HOUSTON (Houston) — As the full extent of the damage from Hurricane Harvey is being assessed, the Jewish community in Houston, Texas has once again found itself in the crosshairs of a devastating storm that will likely cause even more damage. As a community, this is our opportunity to stand together and show our brothers and sisters in Houston that we stand with them in the spirit of Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Bazeh – that all of our people stand together as one. Emergency fundraising campaign: the Orthodox Union’s full emergency fundraising campaign will launch with the next 24-48 hours. But for now – please click here to donate to the Orthodox Union’s disaster relief fund in support of the Jewish community in Houston. (Jewish Press, Aug. 28, 2017)

 

Contents

 

On Topic Links

 

Iran in Syria: Editorial, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 28, 2017 —Russian President Vladimir Putin is well aware that Iran’s influence in Syria is a major concern in Jerusalem. The question is whether Putin can do anything about it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed the extent of Israeli concerns to the Russian leader when he traveled to Putin’s summer holiday resort in Sochi last week. He made it clear to Putin that Israel would not tolerate the establishment of a permanent and significant Iranian presence in Syria that includes military bases and missile launcher sites.

If You Want to Accuse Someone of Prejudice, Use the Right Word: John Robson, National Post, Aug. 23, 2017—Can we just clarify here that Islam is not a race? It’s a religion. So whatever concern about Islam may be, it’s not racism.

This Missile Could Reach California. But Can North Korea Use It With a Nuclear Weapon?: New York Times, Aug. 22, 2017—North Korea is speeding toward a goal it has sought for decades: the ability to hit a major American city with a nuclear weapon.

The Greatest Danger with North Korea is Accidental War: Mitchell Lerner, Washington Post, Aug. 24, 2017 —In the midst of the vitriol flying between Washington and Pyongyang, a number of voices have emerged to assure the world that war is indeed unlikely.

 

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