Alan Dershowitz: Iran deal could be ‘cataclysmic error of gigantic proportions’
(JNS.org) Harvard Law School professor and vocal Israel supporter Alan Dershowitz said
the deal reached in Geneva under which Iran promised to stop uranium enrichment
beyond 5 percent in exchange for $7 billion in sanctions relief “could turn out to be a
cataclysmic error of gigantic proportions.”
“It could also turn out to be successful, to be the beginning of a negotiated resolution,”
Dershowitz told Newsmax. “But I think the likelihood of it being the former is
considerably greater.”
Dershowitz believes the Obama Administration has a 10-percent chance of changing the
Iranian leadership’s attitude on its nuclear program.
“But when you weigh that against the 30 or 40 percent chance that they’re dead wrong—
nuclear bomb wrong—then it’s a very bad assessment of risk and benefits,” he said.
(130 words)
Israel hosts four-nation warplane drill over Negev Desert
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel this week is hosting Blue Flag, a joint air
force drill with pilots from the U.S., Italy, and Greece over the skies of the Negev Desert.
Seven Israeli flight squadrons are participating in the exercise, including one “red”
squadron, which acts as a mock enemy force. Each nation’s air force came with its own
aircraft: Israeli squadrons are flying F-15s and F-16s, the U.S. pilots are flying F-16Es,
the Italians the Tornado AMX, and the Hellenic Airforce is operating its own F-16s. In
all, more than 60 aircrafts participated.
“The exercise is not intended to simulate a geostrategic scenario, but generic threats, like
aerial defense and attacking targets,” a senior Israel Air Force official said Monday.
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Israel mulls EU pre-1967 lines directive’s impact on scientific cooperation
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two emergency consultations
with senior ministers on Monday regarding the European Union’s directive on
construction beyond Israel’s pre-1967 lines and its immediate implications for a major
scientific cooperation program between Israel and the EU, Israel Hayom reported.
The meetings were held ahead of the EU’s deadline at the end of this week for Israel to
sign new funding guidelines as a condition for joining the prestigious Horizon 2020
program, stating that only Israeli institutions within pre-1967 lines can join.
“If Israel accepts these terms we will face a problem later on,” Israeli Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman said of the EU guidelines passed in July, which instruct EU member
nations to limit or suspend economic, social, and academic cooperation with Israeli
institutions operating beyond the pre-1967 lines. The guidelines go into effect Jan. 1,
2014.
Horizon 2020, the EU’s 108 billion scientific research and innovation program, is set to
take place between 2014 and 2020.
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Bard maintains Al-Quds University ties, York ‘investigating’ after Nazi-style rally
(JNS.org) Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, said it will continue its
partnership with Al-Quds University despite the recent Nazi-style rally at the Palestinian
school in Jerusalem. York University in Toronto, meanwhile, is “investigating” the
matter of the rally and its Al-Quds partnership, spokesperson Joanne Rider told JNS.org.
Brandeis University and Syracuse University suspended their ties with Al-Quds after the
rally, but Bard President Leon Botstein wrote in a statement to The Jerusalem Post that
Al-Quds contacted Bard “immediately” after the rally and “provided an unequivocal
denunciation of that protest.” Botstein’s statement comes despite the fact that Brandeis
considered an Al-Quds statement about the rally “unacceptable and inflammatory.” AlQuds President Sari Nusseibeh highlighted “vilification campaigns by Jewish
extremists” against the university, rather than exclusively addressing the Nazi-style rally.
But Botstein wrote to The Jerusalem Post that the Nazi-style rally and its “ensuing
controversy” demonstrate “that it is more important than ever to maintain our educational
partnership with Al-Quds.” The notion that the Al-Quds administration condoned the
student rally is simply inaccurate,” he wrote. Bard has active joint-degree programs with
Al-Quds.
Harvard Christian journal apologizes for implying Jews deserve to be persecuted
(JNS.org) A Harvard University Christianity journal issued an apology over a blog post
arguing that atrocities suffered by the Jewish people over centuries, including the
Holocaust, are “punishments” for killing Jesus.
The post by Harvard’s Ichthus journal was titled “Why Us?” and written by an
anonymous Jew who converted to Christianity.
“We, the Jews, collectively rejected God and hung Him up on a cross to die, and thus we
deserved the punishments that were heaped on our heads over the last 2000 years,” the
author wrote.
Harvard senior and Ichthus Editor in Chief Aaron Gyde said in an official statement that
“while this does not excuse the post of responsibility, it was not the intent of the writer,
nor the Ichthus, to present a piece that is anti-Semitic… the blog was not intended to
communicate animosity, but concern and a sincere desire to communicate the necessity
of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.”
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Scientists find gene that predisposes Ashkenazi Jews for schizophrenia
(JNS.org) Scientists have discovered a gene prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews that
increases the chance of getting schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and manic
depression. The gene raises the likelihood of these mental health disorders among
Ashkenazi Jews by 40 percent and among the general population by 15 percent.
The study was published in Nature Communications and conducted by Professor Ariel
Darvasi, assistant dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, and Dr. Todd Lencz from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in
New York. Twenty-five thousand Ashkenazi Jews contributed DNA samples for the
study, Haaretz reported.
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Apple acquires Israeli motion-sensing technology startup PrimeSense
(JNS.org) Apple has acquired the Israeli startup company PrimeSense, a Tel-Aviv-based
company most famous for its motion-sensing technology that was used in Microsoft’s
Kinect device for the Xbox 360 game console, for $350 million.
“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not
discuss our purpose or plans,” an Apple spokeswoman said when confirming the deal, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
PrimeSense’s technology gives digital devices such as cameras and sensors the ability to
detect movements and objects, translating them into depth and color. Analysts speculate
that the technology can be integrated into Apple’s existing lineup of personal computers,
iPhones and iPads.
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Australia shifts to pro-Israel stance in the U.N.
(JNS.org) Australia’s new Liberal Party government under Prime Minister Tony Abbott
has shifted to a pro-Israel position in the U.N., saying that it will not support resolutions
that are “one-sided.”
Earlier this month, Australia abstained from two votes in the U.N.’s General Assembly
that condemned Jewish construction in the West Bank, and another one forcing Israel to
comply with the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
“The government will not support resolutions which are one-sided,” a spokeswoman for
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told the Sydney Morning Herald. “The government
considers each Middle East-related resolution on a case-by-case basis, and on its merits,”
the spokeswoman added.
The center-right Abbott government also indicated that it no longer considers Israel to be
an “occupying power” in the West Bank.
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U.S. signing of Iran deal harms Israeli interests, most Israelis say in poll
(JNS.org) In a new Israel Hayom poll, 57.8 percent of Jewish Israeli respondents said
they believe the U.S. harmed Israeli interests by signing the nuclear deal with Iran over
the weekend. Only 20.6 percent said that the U.S. did not harm Israeli interests through
the deal.
Under its interim agreement with the P5+1 powers, Iran agreed to halt uranium
enrichment beyond 5 percent in exchange for $7 billion in sanctions relief.
(71 words)
IDF drill simulates Gaza incursion
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division launched a three-day military
maneuver on Sunday during which troops simulated a ground incursion into the Gaza
Strip. Defense officials stressed that the exercise, held in Ashkelon and the area to its
east, was a routine drill.
A goal of the exercise was to explore commanders’ decision-making process and troops’
implementation of orders on the ground.
“The IDF possesses different abilities today, in terms of intelligence, precision fire and
maneuverability,” a senior IDF officer said, Israel Hayom reported. “We are not frozen in
our tracks, but neither is the other side. We have different abilities than we did during
Operation Cast Lead (2008), including different command and control abilities.”
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Jewish groups critical of sanctions relief deal due to Iran’s past behavior
(JNS.org) Jewish groups are anxious about the $7 billion in sanctions relief Iran is
receiving in the deal it reached with the P5+1 powers in Geneva over the weekend, citing
Iran’s past behavior.
“Iran must be judged by its actions, not its words and promises, because they are not
worth the paper they are written on,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder
said in statement. “Nothing in the deceptive behavior of Iran and its leaders in recent
years should make the world believe that they will honor this agreement.”
Anti-Defamation League leaders said Iran’s “record of noncompliance makes us skeptical
of providing sanctions relief before Iran has taken tangible steps to dismantle its nuclear
program.”
“The diminution of sanctions—that were years in the making—which this deal permits
will weaken the international community’s ability to impose serious economic
consequences in the future. What is needed now is additional economic pressure to
finally force the Iranians to verifiably abandon their nuclear weapons program,” stated
B’nai B’rith International.
While a diplomatic solution “is unquestionably the preferred approach to resolving the
Iranian nuclear issue,” Iran has for years exhibited “an indisputable posture of deceit and
defiance towards the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and
nations around the world, including, centrally, the P5+1,” said American Jewish
Committee Executive Director David Harris.
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Nov. 28 declared ‘Thanksgivukkah’ by Boston mayor
(JNS.org) In light of the once-in-a-lifetime convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah,
Boston’s retiring Mayor Thomas Menino has declared Nov. 28 to be “Thanksgivukkah”
in the city.
The proclamation notes the special “diversity of all its citizens” and the values embodied
by both Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, including “unity, hope and gratitude.”
Thanksgiving and Hanukkah last fell on the same day in the late 19th century and is not
expected to converge again for more than 75,000 years, making this year’s overlap
special for American Jews who are usually accustomed to sharing the holiday with
Christmas.
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Archeologists discover oldest and largest wine cellar in Near East
(JNS.org) A team of archeologists unearthed what it describes as the “oldest and largest
palatial wine cellar” ever discovered in the Near East.
The cellar was found in a ruined palace near the sprawling Canaanite city in northern
Israel called Tel Kabri. The site itself dates back to around 1,700 BCE and is located near
Israel’s modern-day winemaking region in the Galilee and Golan Heights.
“We found at least 40 large one-meter tall jugs that all hold at least 50 liters of wine,
totaling 2,000 liters,” Dr. Andrew Koh of Brandeis University, one of the leading
archeologists on the discovery, told JNS.org.
The team found that the jugs contained traces of tartaric acid and syringic acid, both
common in wine. But they included several other ingredients.
“Not only did they have wine, they also had a craftsmanship to them. This is not just your
normal wine; there is some degree of uniqueness to them,” Koh said.
Part of this uniqueness included wine fortified with honey, mint, cinnamon bar juniper
berries, and even special cedar tree resins—possibly giving the wine some psychotropic
properties. This is similar to medicinal wine found in ancient Egypt.
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Secret talks between White House and Tehran date back to March 2013
(JNS.org) A series of five secret talks between the U.S. and Iran preceded the new deal
reached in Geneva, a White House official revealed.
“When President [Hassan] Rouhani was elected and indicated a new direction, we
decided to take that seriously and to test it,” an anonymous U.S. official said, Reuters
reported.
Several top American officials, including Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to Vice-President Joe Biden, were involved in
secret talks with Iran as early as March 2013 in Muscat, Oman, while Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad was still Iran’s president. But most of these talks came after Rouhani was
elected president.
These talks were warily approved by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
according to Iranian officials.
U.S. officials also briefed Israeli leaders on “substantive conversations on an individual
basis” during these secret talks.
(138 words)
Israeli leaders reject deal on Iran nuclear program
(JNS.org) Iran has reached a preliminary six-month agreement on its nuclear program
with the P5+1 powers during diplomatic talks in Geneva amid concerns expressed by
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Congress, and Jewish groups.
According to the agreement, Iran promises to stop enriching uranium beyond 5 percent
and dilute all existing stockpiles already enriched to 20 percent. The country will not
install any new centrifuges and will allow regular monitoring by international nuclear
inspectors. In return, the U.S. has agreed to provide up to $7 billion in sanctions relief,
the White House said. It can do so by executive order without approval from Congress.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said the deal is “not a Western achievement, but rather
a surrender to the Iranian smile and charm offensive and Iranian deceit, the goal of which
is to buy time without its military nuclear program being harmed in any practical way.”
“A diplomatic accord is certainly better than war, a diplomatic accord is better than a
situation of permanent confrontation—just not this agreement,” said Finance Minister
Yair Lapid.
Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett told Army Radio, “If the State of Israel sees
that Iran is endangering it, the State of Israel is permitted to defend itself and is capable
of defending itself.”
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Iran and P5+1 powers reach nuclear deal in Geneva
(JNS.org) Iran has reached a preliminary six-month agreement on its nuclear program
with the P5+1 powers during diplomatic talks in Geneva amid concerns from Israel,
Congress, and Jewish groups.
According to the agreement, Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5 percent and dilute
all existing stockpiles already enriched to 20 percent. The country will not install any
new centrifuges and will allow regular monitoring by international nuclear inspectors. In
return, the U.S. has agreed to provide up to $7 billion in sanctions relief, the White House
said. It can do so by executive order without approval from Congress.
“Today... diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure,” U.S.
President Barack Obama said in a televised address.
But U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) said the deal “appears to provide the world’s leading
state sponsor of terrorism with billions of dollars in exchange for cosmetic concessions
that neither fully freeze nor significantly roll back its nuclear infrastructure.”
Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks said, “President Obama’s
diplomacy is giving cheer to Tehran’s rogue regime and causing alarm among our friends
in the region—including Israel, Saudi Arabia and most the other Gulf states.”
Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said the deal is “more likely to bring Iran
closer to having a bomb.”
(216 words)
Netanyahu set to meet with Pope Francis
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Italy next Sunday for
the annual meeting held between the Israeli and Italian governments, part of Israel’s
effort to strengthen ties with European nations.
During the trip to Italy, Netanyahu will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Israel
Hayom reported. It is expected that the prime minister will officially invite the pope to
visit Israel. Netanyahu and Pope Francis will also discuss the Iran nuclear program and
Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations.
(80 words)
Israel finalizes deal to acquire V-22 Osprey planes from U.S.
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The deal for the Israel Defense Forces to acquire the
American V-22 Osprey aircraft was finalized during Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s
meeting with his American counterpart Chuck Hagel on Friday at a defense ministers’
conference in Halifax, Canada.
Israel is the first country to receive the V-22 Osprey from the U.S. The aircraft takes off
and lands like a helicopter but can convert to fly like an airplane at high speeds and
altitudes once it is airborne. Israel expects to use the Osprey for long-distance search and
rescue operations, among other activities.
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Hamas says it wants to buy more electricity from Israel
(JNS.org) While Gaza faces a power shortage because of an Egyptian crackdown on its
smuggling tunnels, Hamas is looking to Israel for power.
According to Oxfam, Gaza is facing a severe power crisis as a result of a shortage of fuel,
with blackouts lasting from 12-16 hours. In an interview with Turkey’s Anadolu
Agency, Imad al-Daelis, economic advisor to Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, said
that an “agreement with the Israel Electric Company to supply additional power will help
solve the crisis.”
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Syracuse University suspends ties with Palestinian school, joining Brandeis
(JNS.org) Syracuse University became the second school this week to suspend its
relationship with the Palestinian Al-Quds University in Jerusalem following a Nazi-style
rally at Al-Quds, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The school’s Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism halted ties with AlQuds. “We are very disappointed and saddened to have learned of these recent events at
Al-Quds University,” Kevin Quinn, Syracuse’s senior vice president for public affairs,
told the Post in a report published Friday.
Brandeis University had suspended its Al-Quds partnership after a statement by Al-Quds
about the rally that Brandeis considered “unacceptable and inflammatory.” The statement
by Al-Quds President Sari Nusseibeh highlighted “vilification campaigns by Jewish
extremists” against the university, rather than exclusively addressing the Nazi-style rally.
(119 words)
U.N. conference urges more attention to Jewish refugees from Arab countries
(JNS.org) NEW YORK—Jewish and Israeli leaders on Thursday urged greater attention
to the plight of the 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries during a conference on
the issue at the United Nations.
Israeli Minister of Energy and Water Silvan Shalom said, “Over the last 65 years, the
U.N. and its agencies have spent tens of billions of dollars on Palestinian refugees, but
not a cent on Jewish refugees.”
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations, reiterated a recent statement by 42 groups on the fate of
the Iraqi Jewish Archive—artifacts recovered from the basement of the Iraqi intelligence
ministry in 2003 and restored by the U.S. government. Twenty-four of the artifacts are
currently on display in Washington, DC, but all of them are set to return to the Iraqi
government later, despite the belief that Iraq stole them from the Jewish community.
“We urge our government not to send them back to an uncertain fate in Iraq, where
hundreds of holy Torah scrolls remain in disuse and decay,” Hoenlein said.
Ron Prosor, Israeli ambassador to the U.N., told JNS.org regarding the Iraqi archive,
“There were a lot of resources and assets put together in order to compile it the way it is;
it was saved, and we don’t want it to be lost again.”
(224 words)
Jewish-Swedish activist files for asylum over religious practice bans
(JNS.org) A Jewish-Swedish political activist has filed an asylum application in protest
against an increasing number of Swedish laws banning Jewish religious practices.
In a letter in Mosaic Magazine, Annika Hernroth-Rothstein describes how kosher
slaughter has been outlawed in Sweden since 1937, and that a bill is currently pending in
parliament seeking to ban even the import and serving of kosher meat. Ritual
circumcision is also being legally threatened in Sweden.
“I can only expect that my application will be summarily dismissed. But the situation is
beyond absurdity, beyond op-eds and strongly worded letters of protest. The situation
calls for action,” Hernroth-Rothstein wrote.
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Pope Francis says he cannot imagine a Middle East ‘without Christians’
(JNS.org) Pope Francis said he could not imagine a Middle East devoid of Christians.
“We will not resign ourselves to imagining a Middle East without Christians,” Pope
Francis told a group of Christian leaders from Syria, Iraq, and Egypt, Vatican Radio
reported.
The Middle East is facing a tremendous decline in its indigenous Christian populations
amid regional upheaval related to the “Arab Spring” and the rise of Islamic extremism.
According to the Pew Research Center, just 0.6 percent of the world’s 2.2 billion
Christians now live in the Middle East and North Africa.
(93 words)
Jonathan Pollard enters 29th year in prison
(JNS.org) On Nov. 21, Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard entered his 29th year in American
prison.
The 59-year-old Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel, is the only person in
U.S. history to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally.
“It’s an embarrassment for America, it’s a lack of justice, it’s an embarrassment for the
world,” Rabbi Pesach Lerner, executive vice president emeritus of the National Council
of Young Israel, told JNS.org.
Lerner, who visits Pollard in prison approximately every two months, said, “The
clemency petition has been sitting on President [Barack] Obama’s desk for 4-5 years
already. It’s his move.”
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Tel Aviv Stock Exchange top index hits all-time high
(JNS.org) The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s flagship index, the Tel Aviv 25, hit an all-time
record high Nov. 20, closing at 1,344 points and passing the previous high closing level
of 1,341.89 points set on April 21, 2011, Globes reported.
Similar to Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Tel Aviv 25 index consists of
the largest 25 companies within Israel’s stock market.
(72 words)
Palestinian Media Watch: PA leader in ‘libel’ claims Arafat death involved U.S.
(JNS.org) Senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub claimed that the
U.S. was involved in the death of former PA President Yasser Arafat.
“It’s obvious that Israel wasn't alone [in poisoning Arafat]; the U.S. was there. That fool
known as [George W.] Bush took away Yasser Arafat's protection and gave [Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon the green light to liquidate Yasser Arafat,” Rajoub recently
said on Palestinian Authority TV (PA TV), Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported
Nov. 20.
Arafat died in Paris in 2004 at age 75 from a massive stroke, according to French doctors.
Yet many in the Arab world have claimed that Jews or Israelis poisoned Arafat, which
according to PMW is a “libel” frequently featured on PA TV.
“It’s not surprising that the PA would like to present the U.S. as co-conspirator in the socalled poisoning of Arafat, because inciting hatred against the U.S. is a consistent PA
policy over many years,” Itamar Marcus, director of PMW, told JNS.org.
(163 words)
White supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin put to death over synagogue shooting
(JNS.org) White supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin, who went on a nationwide killing
spree in the late 1970s that targeted blacks and Jews, was put to death last week in
Missouri.
Franklin, 63, was executed for the October 1977 sniper-style shooting of Gerald Gordon
outside Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel Synagogue in suburban St. Louis as Gordon was
leaving a bar mitzvah service.
Overall, Gordon was convicted of seven murders and claimed credit for 20 deaths.
(74 words)
David’s Sling air defense system has successful test in Israel
(JNS.org) Israel successfully tested “David’s Sling,” its new mid-range missile defense
system. Developed in partnership with the U.S., the system can intercept missiles from
ranges between 63 to 125 miles, possibly countering attacks from terror groups such as
Hezbollah based in Lebanon.
David’s Sling will join Israel’s Arrow system, which defends against long-range ballistic
missiles, and the highly successful Iron Dome system, which defends against short-range
and medium-range rockets.
“The successful test is a major milestone in the development of the David’s Sling
Weapon System and provides confidence in future Israeli capabilities to defeat the
developing ballistic missile threat,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
(104 words)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls Israel ‘rabid dog’
(JNS.org) Amid negotiations on the Iran nuclear program in Geneva, Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel a “rabid dog.”
“It came from the mouth of the rabid dog of the region—Israel—that Iran is a threat to
the world! No, the fake regime Israel and its allies are the threat,” Khamenei said in a
speech broadcast on Iran’s Press TV with an English translation.
(67 words)