Compiled by JNS.org
Southern Israelis protest IDF decision to end security for Gaza-border communities
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has decided to end its security presence along the communities adjacent to the Israel-Gaza border, sparking strong protests by the area’s residents.
Following Operation Protective Edge, the IDF deployed hundreds of soldiers in and around the border communities, but over the past month the security presence has been scaled back. Soldiers are expected to leave most of the area on Sunday, except for Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Moshav Netiv Haasara, and Kibbutz Kerem Shalom.
The special deployment was originally meant to end Dec. 31, but a series of protests staged by the area’s residents prompted the military to hold a special situation assessment on Jan. 1, during which IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz sought to personally review the sensitive issue. After the review, the military maintained its decision to pull the troops out of the area on Jan. 4.
“It’s inconceivable that the soldiers would be ordered to leave before a new barrier is formed along the border fence,” Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin said.
Eitan Broshi, head of the Kibbutz Movement, sent a letter to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon demanding that he order the IDF to resume a full security presence in the Gaza border-adjacent communities.
“This unilateral move, which negates the understanding reached with [the communities] following Operation Protective Edge, significantly undermines the residents’ sense of security, which we have been trying to restore despite the constant threat they find themselves under,” Broshi’s wrote, according to theNRG news website.
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Mario Cuomo, 3-term New York governor and Israel supporter, dies at 82
(JNS.org) Mario Cuomo, a former three-term Democratic governor of New York who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a strong supporter of Israel, died on Thursday at age 82.
Cuomo, the father of current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, held the gubernatorial office from 1983-1994 and visited Israel during his first year in the role.
“I remember how strongly, firmly and clearly Gov. Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, stood with Israel at the time,” Netanyahu said last summer when Andrew Cuomo visited Israel on a solidarity mission, according to The Jewish Press.|
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Jerusalem launches unity prize in memory of murdered Jewish teens
(JNS.org) The city of Jerusalem announced the establishment of the “Jerusalem Unity Prize” in memory of the three Jewish teenagers who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas last June.
The prize of up to 100,000 shekels (about $25,600) prize, which was conceived by the city in partnership with the families of the murdered boys and the Jerusalem-based organization Gesher, will be awarded in three separate categories: individuals or organizations, social initiatives, and Israel and the Diaspora. A committee including the mayor of Jerusalem, the boys’ parents, and other dignitaries will choose the winners of the prize, which will be a way “to perpetuate the spirit of unity which existed across Israel and around the world during the days following the boys’ kidnapping,” according to a press release.
“While grappling with the unknown question of the fate of their sons, the Yifrach, Shaar and Frenkel families taught the entire world a remarkable lesson in courage and showed us that unity is a value that enables us to overcome even the greatest challenges,” said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
The mothers of victims Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frenkel came together for a video to mark the prize’s launch.
“For many years, Eyal talked about unity and connecting to others,” said his mother, Iris Yifrach. “The most appropriate way to pay tribute to his life is to commit ourselves to these ideals.”
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Netanyahu expects International Criminal Court to reject ‘hypocritical’ Palestinian bid
(JNS.org) At the end of a meeting at his Tel Aviv office on Thursday regarding the Palestinian Authority’s accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expects the ICC to reject the “hypocritical” Palestinian bid to become the court’s 123rd member.
“We expect the International Criminal Court to reject outright the Palestinian Authority’s hypocritical act because the Palestinian Authority is not a state,” Netanyahu said. “It is an entity in alliance with a terrorist organization, Hamas, which perpetrates war crimes. The State of Israel is a nation of laws with a moral army that upholds international law. We will defend the soldiers of the IDF just as they defend us.”
The Palestinian Authority’s signing of the Rome Statute in order to join the ICC came just a day after the United Nations Security Council’s rejection of a Palestinian resolution that called for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank by 2017 and the establishment of a Palestinian state with borders based on the pre-1967 lines.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has long promised to join the ICC as a way to put pressure on Israel, opening up the possibility that Israel could be tried for war crimes. But by joining the ICC, the Palestinians also open themselves up to war crimes probes as well as possible repercussions such as sanctions by the U.S., which opposes Palestinian unilateralism.
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HarperCollins Publishers apologizes after initial defense of maps without Israel
(JNS.org) HarperCollins Publishers apologized for omitting Israel from maps used in atlases for English-speaking schools in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East.
The maps label Gaza and the West Bank but do not demarcate Israel, instead depicting Jordan and Syria as extending all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
“HarperCollins regrets the omission of the name Israel from their Collins Middle East Atlas,” the publishing company said. “This product has now been removed from sale in all territories and all remaining stock will be pulped. HarperCollins sincerely apologizes for this omission and for any offense caused.”
Before the apology, Collins Bartholomew—the subsidiary of HarperCollins that specializes in maps—had told The Tablet, a Catholic weekly newspaper in the United Kingdom, that including Israel would have been “unacceptable” to Arab customers in the Middle East and that the maps were adjusted to meet “local preferences.”
“The willful error was exacerbated by the initial tone-deaf defense by HarperCollins of its decision. … Does the publisher’s acquiescence to ‘local preferences’ take into account that many of Israel’s neighbors have the singular goal of destroying Israel and its people?” B’nai B’rith International said in a statement.
French president vows to fight anti-Semitism in 2015
(JNS.org) French President Francois Hollande used his New Year’s Eve address to vow to fight the growing racism and anti-Semitism that plagued France last year.
Highlighting “the rising, worrying threats” of terrorism and fundamentalism, Hollande urged the French to not succumb to fear,The Associated Press reported.
France, which has both the largest Muslim and Jewish populations in western Europe, saw a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism in 2014, especially in reaction Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas terrorist group last summer. France’s Jewish community suffered several violent attacks, including a recent home invasion and rape in which the attackers referenced the victims’ Jewish faith.
According to Israeli government statistics, French Jewish immigration to Israel doubled in 2014 to 7,000 arrivals, up from 3,400 in 2013.
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